Tales from the Tundra
by TheWorldDoesn'tStop
Summary: Sabrina and Daphne spend their winter break traveling with Uncle Jake and Puck, helping with what should be an easy mission, but discover a murderous plot, orchestrated by an old enemy. "Hell is empty, and all the demons are here" -Shakespeare, the Tempest. T for mild language and suggestive themes.
1. Big and Ugly

"All right, pull as hard as you can on the count of three!" Uncle Jake shouted over the deafening noise of the Yeti. Big and Ugly was lumbering towards their little group as fast as his treelike legs would carry him, his eyes alight with rage.

He was approaching faster than Uncle Jake had bargained. "Three!" he hollered. Puck followed his lead without missing a beat, pulling on the rope and nearly knocking Sabrina over in the process.

"You forgot one and two!" Sabrina cried, staggering backwards with them after a moment's pause. The men ignored her, and the large, snowy boulder that their rope was attached to rocked forward with painstaking slowness. On Sabrina's side, Daphne had a wand pointed at a cage made of woven vines that hovered in midair about twenty feet away. She was concentrating so hard that a vein was popping out in her temple.

Sabrina looped the rope around her hands and strained, her feet slipping on the packed snow. Finally, the boulder broke free of its icy embrace and began to tumble down the hill. Uncle Jake, Puck, and Sabrina dove aside to avoid getting crushed. Still the Yeti barreled forward, nearing the square of shadow the cage created on the ground.

"Come on, come on, come on," Uncle Jake muttered under his breath, gripping Sabrina's arm. And then, "now, Daphne!"

With a gasp of relief, Daphne dropped her arms and with them fell the cage. The Yeti looked up and howled with rage, tensing his muscles in preparation to jump away. But as he lunged forward again, the boulder they'd been pulling smacked its side. He stopped in his tracks, roared again, and hoisted the boulder onto his meaty shoulders.

"Yes!" Puck punched Uncle Jake in the arm as the cage crashed down around the Yeti, sending clouds of white powder into the air. Uncle Jake whooped in delight and took off down the slippery embankment, Puck sliding behind him.

Sabrina and Daphne shared a wide-eyed look. This was only their second night with the world travelers, and it was hard to get used to the effortless way they worked together.

"We did it!" Daphne cried, recovering quickly from her momentary shock. Jumping up and down, she waved Sabrina on as they watched her uncle circle the cage while Puck staked it down.

Sabrina scowled and grabbed her sister's arm. "Wait until they're finished staking."

Daphne, who was now fourteen but had bundled herself up so much that she resembled a snow baby, waved her hand impatiently. "It's fine! They're as good of a team as we were. C'mon, sis."

"We were solving real mysteries," Sabrina protested, marching toward the cage. "They're just running around trying to get themselves killed."

Daphne followed her. "Maybe. But maybe once they finish this mission, they'll come home for good."

Sabrina's heart rose and then sank. More to herself than her sister, she grumbled, "Don't get your hopes up, Daph."

Daphne shrugged. "Hopes are up!" she confirmed cheerily as they reached the cage.

"Help!" Puck called.

Sabrina ran to where he was crouched, struggling to subdue the cage while the Yeti rocked his prison with the force of a full grown bull. Both of Puck's arms had transformed into thick gorilla limbs, but still the Yeti's strength won out.

Sabrina scanned the ground, understanding what was wrong. "Where's the last stake?" she demanded, grabbing onto the bars as the final corner lifted off the ground.

"In my pocket," he panted, pressing all of his weight onto the bottom of the cage. "He's shaking the cage too hard and I can't let go, I need you to grab it for me."

Sabrina pulled down as the Yeti pushed up. "You couldn't have thought of this beforehand?"

Puck's eyes, the only part of his face that was visible around his ski mask, scrunched up in a scowl.

Sabrina shook her head to clear it. She wasn't twelve anymore. She could get a stake out of Puck's pocket without feeling anything.

Before she could think anything else, Sabrina reached her gloved hand into his pants pocket with some difficulty and withdrew the final stake. It looked flimsy, but even through her layers Sabrina could feel the powerful buzz of magic. Puck morphed his head into a dragon and breathed steam out of his nostrils, softening the ground just enough to allow Sabrina to drive it deep. They stood, and Puck opened his mouth to say something, but the Yeti threw itself against their side of the cage, roaring at them. A fleck of Yeti spit managed to hit the one exposed inch of Sabrina's cheek and she grimaced as she felt it freeze. Daphne yelled back, and the Yeti fell silent and shuffled towards her.

Sabrina peered into the dim cage, unable to distinguish between the boulder and the subdued creature. She heard soft snorts as Daphne and Uncle Jake worked their magic. Turning, she leaned against the bars and kept one hand on the hilt of her sword as she watched the frozen landscape for signs of life. Next to her, Puck struggled to find a way to scratch his armpit through his thick layers of clothing.

With a much more coherent grunt, the Yeti lunged across the cage and roared, his nails scraping her coat. Sabrina jumped like she'd been electrocuted.

"Sorry, Sabrina!" Daphne yelled over the wind. Puck laughed.

Sabrina hastily sheathed her sword, adrenaline pumping through her veins. "Did you get it, Uncle Jake?" she yelled back.

They ran around the cage and found Jake on the ground, emptying a syringe full of Yeti blood into a glass bottle. He held up his in triumph.

"We are one step closer to unearthing the treasure in the cave," he announced.

"Now what?" Daphne asked. She slipped the wand she'd been using up her sleeve.

"We wait until he's asleep and then set him free," Uncle Jake explained, ripping off his ski mask and wrapping the vial in it. "And then we run real fast in the opposite direction. Take this, 'Brina, and don't lose it."

As much as she had wished he would come home, Sabrina could tell that Uncle Jake was in his element. Even in the cold, his smile was stretched wide and his eyes, framed by semi-frozen eyelashes, brimmed with excitement.

They built a campfire uphill from the cage and waited out the afternoon. The Russian tundra stretched around them, vast and barren. Several mountains rose to wicked peaks on the horizon. They were just south of Oymyakon, the coldest inhabited city in the world, and now that they were no longer moving, Sabrina's skin felt stretched and tight in the chill.

Uncle Jake was telling the girls about their last hair-raising adventure, involving pyramids and a cursed mummy.

"I'm going to get a snack," Daphne interrupted, standing up. "Wanna come, 'Brina?"

"Get me something!" Puck said, propping his feet up.

Daphne stuck her tongue out at him as she unzipped the tent flap and stepped inside.

"Ooh, it's so much warmer in here," Daphne sighed, spreading her arms.

Sabrina's lips twitched. "Careful, or you'll melt."

Her sister narrowed her eyes. "Are you saying I look like a snowman?"

Snickering, Sabrina moved around her to their food stash. "Of course not." She handed Daphne a package of peanut butter crackers.

"Sabrina, wait," Daphne said, suddenly serious, as Sabrina grabbed a protein bar and turned to go. The sisters were almost eye to eye now, and Sabrina was quietly worried that Daphne would end up taller than her.

"Puck kept growing," Daphne whispered. "When we last saw them, I thought he'd stopped. What do you think that means?"

It was hard to hide her flush in the warmth of the tent. "It's been six years," she said firmly, hoping Daphne would understand her tone. "It doesn't mean anything."

Daphne eyed the tent entrance in suspicion, as if it would give her a better answer than Sabrina. "Ever wonder if he thinks about you?"

"No," Sabrina snapped, pushing past her. "I don't."


	2. The Middle of Nowhere

**A/N: Thank you all for your reviews on Chapter 1! This chapter is a little bit of a filler, but it'll pick up in the next one which is already in the works- I'll probably post that early next week unless I stop procrastinating my research paper. Please review!**

A moonless night had fallen over the snowy tundra. Sabrina couldn't see her hand in front of her face, let alone any of the others. Uncle Jake had insisted that a fire in the dark would draw the attention of too many unsavory creatures, so they'd smothered it a half an hour ago.

"Listen up, everyone," Uncle Jake whispered somewhere to her right. He'd been sitting in thoughtful silence for a while now, plotting their next move with all the care of a man who was living his dream. "We still need seaweed from Kikimora the Bog Hag and a dagger from Nightingale the Robber. _And_ we need to scout out the location of this cave. So, we're going to split up. Sabrina and Puck, visit the Bog Hag and the Robber. Do whatever you need to do to get those items. Daphne and I will find the cave."

"Why do I have to pair up with Stinkpot?" Puck complained. Sabrina glanced around a few times; unable to figure out where he was, before realizing he was hovering above her. She edged to her left to avoid getting squashed.

Uncle Jake started to speak and then stopped himself. He said nothing for a moment and tried again. And then stopped. Then he laughed a little. "I'm sorry. I'm really trying not to say anything stupid right now."

Sabrina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Uncle Jake, give it up. We're eighteen."

Her uncle sighed. "You're right. I know. Anyways, Daphne and I are going together so we can pool all the magical items we have to locate this thing, since we have no leads. You two _are_ adults now, so act like it." Sabrina imagined him shaking his finger in their general direction in a very Granny Relda-esque way.

"I never wanted to be an adult," Puck grumbled, still airborne. Uncle Jake sighed.

"I've never heard of either of these people," Sabrina said in an effort to redirect the conversation. "Have you, Daphne?" She turned in the direction she expected her sister to be standing, and then jumped when her voice came from closer than she'd anticipated.

"I know they're in Russian fairy tales. Never read either story, though." Snow crunched under Daphne's boots.

Do you know where the Bog Hag and the Robber live?" Sabrina asked, the darkness pressing on her eyeballs. She disliked speaking into the blackness.

"I have some leads. Here, take—this—bag—" Uncle Jake trailed off and there was a rustling sound. Sabrina felt something hit her arm, and grabbed and twisted her uncle's wrist instinctively before realizing what she was holding.

"Ow!"

"Sorry," Sabrina said with a shrug that no one could see. They fumbled with the bag for a moment, and then Sabrina took it. It had a smooth, leathery feel and upon further inspection with her hands she found two backpack straps.

"Anyways," Uncle Jake continued. Sabrina could picture him dusting off his long overcoat, which he was wearing over his parka. "Everything you two need to know is in the bag. After we free the Yeti, fly out of here and head south. Find somewhere you can camp for the night. Marshmallow, we're heading up this way and then teleporting. Got it?"

"Got it," Sabrina and Puck echoed.

"Wait, which way? I can't see you," Daphne protested.

Uncle Jake snapped his fingers and a small ball of light rose just above their heads. Sabrina blinked spots out of her eyes. "That way," he clarified. "West-ish. Now come on!"

They ran to the cage, stopped to listen to the Yeti's snores, and pulled up the stakes. Puck flew to the top of the cage and lifted it into the air. He threw it, and it soared off into the night and landed somewhere nearby with a crash.

Uncle Jake swore under his breath. Grabbing the girls, he backed them away from the Yeti, whose hulking form was rising in the dim light.

"You shouldn't've done that," Uncle Jake said as Puck swooped toward them. "Get out of here!" He pushed Sabrina, turned on his heel, and raced away with Daphne close behind.

A low grumbling noise emanated from the Yeti.

"Oh, boy," Puck muttered, landing next to Sabrina with a soft _thump._

"Let's go," Sabrina hissed, groping around in the dark for him. The ball of light had followed Uncle Jake, leaving Sabrina blind again.

He didn't answer for a moment. "I kinda want to see what he does."

Sabrina blinked. "You can see right now?"

"Yes, can't you?" Uphill, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the sky and the tundra, signaling that Daphne and Uncle Jake were somewhere far away. Blooms of purple and red erupted against the darkness of Sabrina's surroundings.

"No! Puck, let's go!" Somewhere in front of them, the grumbling turned into a roar in response to the light.

"Hold on." He fell silent, and Sabrina heard snow crunch under his feet. Heavy Yeti footfalls came toward them, and then Puck let out a horrible scream.

Sabrina jumped out of her skin and then put up her fists, ready to defend him like she had once before. "Puck!"

He let out a wicked cackle. Sabrina groaned. "I hate you."

The flowery, rancid smell of rotten meat drifted around Sabrina and Puck, followed by wet, heavy breathing. Sabrina whirled around, her heart hammering, afraid to draw her sword for fear of hurting Puck but feeling quite vulnerable without it.

Feeling around in the darkness, she latched onto his arm. "Puck, if you don't move this instant I'm sacrificing you to the Yeti."

"Okay, fine. I'm grabbing you now, don't attack me." He wrapped his arms around her and they shot up like a cork out of a bottle. Sabrina's stomach dropped and her nose cleared as they soared higher through the inky sky, her back pressed against his chest. "You're such a pain, Grimm."

"Yeah, yeah, I missed you too," Sabrina replied as they leveled out, rolling her eyes.

She expected some sort of snarky comment, but Puck's arms just tightened around her for a moment before he seemed to realize what he was doing and loosened them again.

After a tense moment of silence, Sabrina cleared her throat and scanned the stars. "You know we're not going south right now, right?"

"Uh, duh," Puck grumbled, sneezing on her hood as he changed directions. Sabrina wrinkled her nose. They flew in silence, Puck's wings slicing through the air.

"Why did you guys pick this time of year to come here?" Sabrina asked, watching her breath rise in clouds that drifted towards the moon. Every inhale was sharp and stung her lungs.

"Jake makes those decisions," Puck replied. "He thought you two would like to go somewhere besides America."

"Right, there's nothing I love more than visiting the tundra in the dead of winter," Sabrina said around a mouthful of chattering teeth.

"You should've come last summer. We went to Hawaii and dove into volcanoes," Puck announced. "Man, that was fun!"

Puck flew for so long that Sabrina's eyes began to water and her nose grew so cold that she put her hand over it in an effort to warm it up. She watched the stars, occasionally redirecting them. After a while, the silences between the flaps of Puck's wings grew, and they began to bob in the air. Sabrina scrutinized the ground below them. She expected it was around one in the morning now, and although they'd passed Oymyakon about half an hour ago, they hadn't seen any other evidence of human civilization.

"I think we're going to have to camp somewhere for the night," Sabrina said. She'd been hoping to find another village, but her eyelids were growing heavy and could tell that Puck was on the verge of falling out of the sky.

"I can fly a little longer," he protested. She imagined that, if he was standing up, he would've puffed out his chest. "It doesn't help that you got heavier." He let out a weak laugh.

"So did you!"

Without warning, they dropped ten feet.

"Whoops," Puck said casually. "Maybe not. I'll land."

Sabrina, whose stomach had been left in the cold air above them, made an angry noise in her throat.

They landed in a clearing in the middle of a sparse forest. Sabrina lit a flashlight and shined the beam around them. The snow-covered pines were hulking shapes in the darkness. Several pairs of eyes reflected back at her.

Puck was fiddling with his parka. Sabrina noticed that he'd been adding pockets to it, and she hopped from one foot to the other as she waited for him to find their tent. As soon as Puck found the tiny model of a tent and held it out, she pinched it and dropped it.

Once the model tent hit the ground, it began to grow. Sabrina backed up to avoid being hit by a pole, but Puck was not so lucky. It was her turn to laugh as he fell to the ground, but he recovered quickly and led the way inside. At full size, this tent was not as large or luxurious as the one they'd shared with Daphne and Uncle Jake. It was unfurnished, with just one room.

Once they were inside, Sabrina handed the flashlight to Puck and opened the bag Uncle Jake had given her. She plunged her arm into it, and received a shock as it sank up to her armpit. The familiar, intoxicating tingle of magic raced through her fingers.

"Whoa!" Puck cried, dropping the light. "Grimm, it's eating you!"

"Relax, you aren't going to get rid of me that easily." Sabrina kicked the flashlight back toward him as she felt around. After some trial and error—she pulled out a box of microwave popcorn, a feather boa, and the movie _Dumb and Dumber_ —she produced a few family journals with bookmarks in them, two sleeping bags, pillows, a portable space heater, and a few extra blankets. With numb fingers, she fiddled with the space heater.

"I'll take first watch," she offered as Puck shook out the sleeping bags.

He turned to Sabrina with one eyebrow cocked. "Why do we need to do watches? We're in the middle of nowhere!"

A low, eerie howl rose from the forest, followed by a multitude of swift footfalls that seemed to echo around them. Both teenagers froze, staring out the open mouth of the tent, but the darkness yielded nothing. The noises grew faint, and then, as if they both remembered where they were, Puck and Sabrina lunged for the tent zipper.

"That's why we need a watch!"

Puck waved a dismissive hand. "Whatever that was, it won't find us."

"How do you know that?" Sabrina asked as she pulled off her bulky parka and tossed it into a corner before the frost could melt all over the floor. Her boots followed, and she stood on the tent floor in four pairs of socks, feeling the coldness from the snow seep through to her skin.

Puck shrugged and began to peel off his layers. Since they'd been wearing ski masks for the bulk of the journey, Sabrina wasn't accustomed to seeing his face. The angles of his cheekbones were sharper, his hair a richer shade of gold. She thought that he'd grown into his eyes, which had always reflected all four thousand years of his life.

"Jake and I hear weird things all the time and we're always fine," Puck replied, as if that was a good reason. She glanced over as he reached into the bag for clothes and noticed the firm muscles in his back and shoulders. Boy fairy no longer, that was for sure.

"Where have you guys been?" Sabrina asked.

"Well, when we first left we went straight to Brazil. Met some Natives, recovered a few Spanish artifacts, delivered them to an Everafter in Barcelona. Then I think Tasmania was next. Or maybe Nepal? It's hard to remember. How long has it been?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes, settling down in a spot where she could see the tent entrance. "Six years, minus a few visits."

Puck pulled a green hoodie out of his bag and scratched his head. "How old are we, again?"

"You're kidding, right? Do the math," Sabrina replied, spreading out the journals around her and pulling out a pen. She smiled a little, listening to him count on his fingers.

"Eighteen!"

"Eighteen," Sabrina agreed.

He moved to the front of the tent with a combination lock. "So what have you been up to?"

Surprised he'd bothered to ask, Sabrina replied, "Well, I graduated high school and got into college. I want to be a lawyer."

Puck's face twisted in revulsion. "You still go to _school?_ " He hissed.

"Yes, that's how kids our age who don't go gallivanting around the planet spend their time," Sabrina snapped, flipping her grandfather's journal open.

Puck paused and looked at her, the lock frozen in midair. "Did you just use the word _gallivanting?_ Are you trying to trick me into thinking I need to go back to school?"

Her eyes scanned the page without absorbing anything. "Of course not!"

A faint click, signifying that they were safely locked inside the tent, made her look up.

"I wanted to visit more often," he said quietly, his eyes glinting in the mellow light of the lantern.

Sabrina pressed her lips together to stop herself from saying that despite the insufferable pranks, she'd missed having someone her own age around. Someone who would follow her almost anywhere, who had believed in her when no one else had, who had been a constant in Ferryport Landing and could have been a constant in the city.

No, Sabrina thought she would rather die than let him know how much she hated that he was the one in control of their relationship. He chose when they saw each other. She couldn't even write to him, since they moved around so much, and he'd never bothered to write to her.

Although she wasn't sure if she could blame him for that. Did Puck know how to write?

"It was weird not having you around," Sabrina replied nonchalantly after a long minute, reminding herself that none of it mattered, anyway.

Puck got into his sleeping bag, a faint smile on his face. "Okay, well, if you start to miss me again just wake me up!"

"You'll be sleeping for a long time, fairy boy," Sabrina muttered under her breath.

Sabrina scoured her grandfather's journals as the tent filled with the soft sound of Puck's breathing. The few she'd found at the bottom of her bag detailed his world travels with Granny Relda, and Sabrina came to the sudden realization that maybe Uncle Jake was doing this for him.

Her grandparents had not visited this area of Russia. Entry after entry of cramped writing filled the pages, but none of them held any mention of Kikimora the Bog Hag or the Nightingale.

Serene quiet stretched out around Sabrina. In momentary defeat, she laid the journal down and stood, pacing around the tent to get the pins and needles out of her legs.

A sudden crackling and buzzing, like a static-ridden alarm clock, made her jump. Her stomach leaping into her throat, Sabrina spun in a circle, searching for the source of the noise.

Puck sat up so fast he was almost a blur. Eyes closed, he slapped at his own wrist until the noise stopped.

"What was that?" Sabrina cried, giving her own wrists a good once-over.

"Hello," said Puck, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Uh, hello?" Sabrina asked. He shot her a look and held out his arm, displaying a large, ugly gold watch.

A faint, tinny voice sounded from the watch. "Hello!"

Sabrina jumped in alarm, hit the tent wall, and slid to the ground. "Uncle Jake?" she gasped, moving over to Puck.

"Hi guys," her uncle said, his voice crackling. "Just wanted to make sure you got somewhere safe."

"You woke me up!" Puck complained.

"We're fine," Sabrina translated.

More static made its way through the connection, and then Daphne, "Sabrina? Puck? We're talking through a watch!"

"A really ugly watch," Sabrina agreed.

Puck's eyebrows scrunched together and he placed a defensive hand over his wrist. "Hey, I like my watch!"

"All right, we'll contact you again for a progress update tomorrow night. Let's try to get this done as quickly as possible, your grandmother will kill me if we miss Christmas again this year," Uncle Jake continued. "Bye!"

Thanks to the poor connection, Daphne's laugh sounded like a wheezing cough.

"Bye!" Sabrina replied, wishing they were with her. After a semester of college, she was used to being separated from Daphne, but being with Uncle Jake and Puck brought back old memories and feelings.

Puck pressed a button, and the static went away. "This is not an ugly watch!"

"Puck, it's the ugliest watch."

Disgruntled, he checked the time and got out of his bag. "My turn to be awake and bored."

As Sabrina settled into her sleeping bag, she glanced over at Puck and watched as he, frowning, took off the watch and slipped it in his pocket.


	3. Harm Will Find You

**A/N:**

 **Hi again!** **What did you like? What didn't you like? Can you figure out who the woman Jake and Daphne talk to is? Take a guess!**

 **To those of you who have reviewed, thank you, thank you, thank you. You're the best.**

The Jabberwocky roared and crouched, its beady eyes red and swollen.

Horrified—how had she gotten here?—Sabrina reached for a weapon, only to discover that her hands were bound with rope. The monster drew closer, snarling as it backed her into a corner. A drip of saliva landed on her head. Pressed up against the wall, Sabrina scanned the small room she was trapped in. The only path to the door was through the Jabberwocky's legs. As its head swooped down to bite her in half, Sabrina pushed off and ran for her life.

After a few steps, the Jabberwocky's mouth closed around her and lifted her off the ground. Sabrina thrashed and kicked, trying to get free. The Jabberwocky tossed her into the air, its massive mouth stretching open—

She was flying upwards through the night sky, a pair of wings extending from her back. Sabrina found she could not control them and she dropped like a stone—

Daphne was there, Daphne smiling as if nothing was out of the ordinary. The Jabberwocky lurked in a dark corner, couldn't she see that?

"Daphne, run!' Sabrina screamed, but the noise stopped in her throat. Panicking, trying to close the distance between her and her sister so she could warn her, Sabrina found herself held back by invisible arms, unable to make a sound as the monster crept up to her sister. Daphne stood still, her arms hanging limply at her side like a doll, staring off into the distance.

Sabrina knew too well what came next. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to look—

"Sabrina!"

A new voice, one that was familiar but did not belong here, startled her and then she was flying again, beside Puck, who seemed utterly unaware of her wings.

"Sabrina!" Something knocked her out of the sky, and Sabrina awoke with a jolt. Her eyes were sticky and wet, and her lower body was cocooned tightly in her twisted sleeping bag. Gasping for breath, she patted her wrists, her arms, and then looked around for Daphne, for the Jabberwocky, but found only Puck, crouched beside her.

Puck said, "You were having a nightmare." He seemed to glow in the early morning sunlight that penetrated the tent walls.

Sabrina gave him a withering look. She looked away as she wiped her eyes, hoping he wouldn't notice. "I know."

"What was it about?" Puck asked, sounding more interested than concerned.

She explained briefly about Daphne and the Jabberwocky, but left out the part with the wings. "It's recurring," she added.

Puck gave her a blank look.

Sabrina rolled her eyes as she disentangled herself and got to her feet.

"That means the same dream comes back a lot."

"Cool!" Puck whispered.

" _Cool,_ " Sabrina mocked, too groggy to come up with a better comeback. She staggered forward, rubbing her eyes. "Okay, we need a plan for today. I didn't find anything in the journals I read last night."

"I'm not sure if this would help, but I found it in the bag from your uncle," Puck replied, holding up a sandwich baggie that contained a business card, a tightly folded piece of paper, and a compass.

Sabrina took an extra moment to process this. "You were trying to help?" she clarified, uncapping their water and taking a sip.

"This is my mission, too," Puck said defensively. Then he looked at the baggie and admitted, "But I pulled this out because I was hoping it would be a sandwich."

Sabrina managed a smile. Puck opened it and shook the meager contents out onto the floor. He unfolded the paper, and a crease appeared on his forehead. Kneeling beside him, Sabrina tried to make sense of what was clearly a map. A small legend in the bottom corner detailed pointy squiggles for water, clusters of narrow triangles for forest, and wider triangles for villages. Looking at the map as a whole, Sabrina felt like someone had given them a geometry problem.

"Hmm," Puck said, giving Sabrina a sideways look to make sure she was confused too. When she met his eyes, he flipped the map over and shoved it aside. "We'll figure that one out later."

Sabrina picked up the compass and turned it in her hands. It possessed no magical tingle, had no secret compartments. Disappointed, Sabrina handed it to Puck, hoping he would find something she'd missed. Instead, she had to stop him from banging it against the ground.

"What?" Puck whined. "Maybe that would work."

"Let's save that idea for later," Sabrina replied, picking up the business card. Then she slapped a hand over her mouth. "Benjamin Andersen! Oh, this is perfect!"

Puck frowned. "Who is that, your boyfriend?"

Sabrina flushed. "Benjamin Andersen is one of the Andersen triplets, the descendants of Hans Christian Andersen. This address is for Omyakon. I'm sure if anyone knows how to find the Bog Hag and the Nightingale, it'll be him."

Puck shrugged. "Alright." Sabrina thought there was a question he wanted to ask, but he held his tongue.

They packed up, had a quick breakfast of dried fruit, and then stood outside the tent, looking at each other nervously. "Jake usually does this part," Puck said, rocking back and forth on his heels.

Sabrina waved an impatient hand. "I'll do it."

She could tell that Puck tried to straighten up, although his layers made it difficult. "No, it's fine. I can do it."

They stared at each other some more. Taking a deep breath, Puck leapt inside the tent, hit a button on the ceiling, and lunged away. Sabrina grabbed him and pulled him out of the opening as the tent shrank back down to model size in a matter of seconds.

"It's a wonder that they don't sell these things in stores," Sabrina joked as Puck tried to wipe sweat away from under his ski mask before it could freeze. Puck and Uncle Jake had learned the hard way that if someone was in the tent when it shrunk, they would shrink with it and be stuck there until someone else opened it.

Puck laughed weakly as he plucked the model tent off the ground. Oymyakon was close enough that they'd decided to walk, especially in broad daylight. With the business card tucked into her glove and the compass in front of her, Sabrina led the trek through the snow towards civilization.

* * *

Daphne trotted alongside Uncle Jake, glancing around at the stone buildings that loomed around them. They'd teleported somewhere much farther south, somewhere where Daphne only needed a jacket and a knit cap to be comfortable. It had snowed lightly all morning, and on the streets of a city with a name Daphne couldn't pronounce, she's accumulated a dusting of powder on her hat and shoulders.

Uncle Jake ducked into their hostel, with Daphne close behind. The owner waved at them from behind the counter. He was an acquaintance of Uncle Jake, although Daphne wasn't sure how.

"Any luck?" He asked in a thick Russian accent. The man spoke fluent English, although his accent sometimes made him hard to understand.

Uncle Jake held his fingers an inch apart. "A little."

The man's sharp eyes slid to a new customer who had entered the lobby behind Daphne. Waving goodbye, Uncle Jake and Daphne turned down the hallway.

"You got it?" Uncle Jake whispered once they were locked inside their room.

Daphne lifted her cap off her head and handed Uncle Jake the scroll of paper she'd stored there. "Here you go! It's my secret compartment."

"Smart girl," her uncle replied with a wink. Daphne beamed. The paper was a map of Asia. They'd visited another of Jake's contacts earlier, a woman named Vanessa, and she'd marked seven potential locations of the cave on it for them. One was near them, two were clumped together, and the rest were scattered around the continent.

Uncle Jake unfolded it and looked again. "I think two of these are near Oymyakon," he said, rubbing his chin.

"Who?" Daphne asked with a grin. What a weird name!

"A town near where we left Sabrina and Puck. We should ask them to look while they're still around," Uncle Jake replied in a low voice.

"How are we going to figure this out? Do you know any spells that would help?" Daphne asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

Uncle Jake shushed her. "The walls have ears," he warned. "Talk quietly."

Daphne clapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry," she whispered, scanning the dingy gray walls around them.

"It's okay, Marshmellow," Uncle Jake replied, patting her on the shoulder. "Now, this should be easy enough. Could you pass me the Yeti blood?"

Frowning, Daphne replied, "Didn't you give that to Sabrina?"

Her uncle paused, thinking, and then said a word that made Daphne giggle. Cracking a pained smile, he replied, "Never tell your father I said that in front of you. Also, we have a slight problem."

"What did we need the… _Yeti blood_ …for?" Daphne asked, stopping mid-sentence to mouth the words.

Uncle Jake fumbled with his pockets and pulled out a compass. "We could've but the blood in this and it would've acted like the correct cave was north," he mumbled. Daphne cupped a hand around her ear. "Then we would've just followed that to the entrance."

"Can't we use a substitute?" Daphne asked, flicking her fishtail braid off her shoulder. She drew her own pouch out of her pocket and poked around inside of it. Ever since she'd joined a coven, she'd been accumulating a wide variety of magical items. "I have unicorn tail hair, a little bit of dragon's heartstring that we confiscated after the Everafter War and I'd love to use because it's gross, and a lock of hair that a witch gave me in New York after I helped her find her missing jar of fingernails."

Daphne shuddered at the memory. When they'd returned to the city, she'd frequently gone to Faerie with Sabrina and occasionally Veronica. They'd had all sorts of short adventures, but nothing that meant as much to Daphne as their time with Granny Relda in Ferryport Landing. Sure her sister wouldn't feel the same way, Daphne had never said anything to Sabrina, but thinking about the old days made her heart ache.

Her uncle pushed his hair off his forehead, oblivious to Daphne's thoughts. She could tell he was impressed. "I'm not sure, but we can definitely try. Good idea."

Daphne's grin widened, her sad feelings evaporating. "This is so much better than school! And probably more educational!"

"You know, I always told Hank that—"

But whatever he always told Hank, Daphne would never know, because at that moment someone hammered on their door. Daphne jumped and began to collect and shove all of her things out of sight, while Uncle Jake tossed his sleeping bag over his overcoat to hide the pockets.

"Who is it?" He called, trying to sound nonchalant. Daphne stuffed her pouch into her coat and smoothed down the lump.

"Me," said a gruff voice.

Uncle Jake and Daphne looked at each other. He stuck his thumb out at the door. "Do you know that voice?" he mouthed. Daphne shook her head, wishing she could see through the door. With a shrug, Uncle Jake threw the door opened and the owner of the hostel spilled over the threshold and shut it with a snap.

"Ivan!" Uncle Jake said, relief clear on his face.

"You are being watched," Ivan whispered without preamble, moving closer until he was invading Uncle Jake's space.

Without taking his eyes off the other man, Uncle Jake said sharply, "Shut the curtains, Daphne."

Daphne did as she was told, plunging their small room into gloom.

"A woman checked in this morning while you were out," Ivan continued as Daphne crossed the room to stand by her uncle. "She asked for Grimm. I said I knew of no Grimm in my inn."

"Thank you," Uncle Jake whispered, but Ivan shook his head.

"She said she knew you were here. She told me to tell you to stop looking for the Lost Cave; else you face a wrath extending back a millennium."

"Well, that's a little dramatic," Uncle Jake replied, rolling his eyes as he tried to appear calm, but Daphne noticed that he was twisting his hands.

Ivan let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his forehead. "She also said that continuing your search is pointless, as she will find the cave first. Turn back now, and no harm will befall you."

"Someone else is looking for the Lost Cave?" Uncle Jake repeated, his shoulders sagging. "But who?"

"Do not seek the Lost Cave," Ivan warned, ignoring his question. "Terrible trouble befalls those who do. I would avoid this woman as well."

"I'm afraid we can't do that, Ivan," Uncle Jake replied, shaking his head. Daphne watched their exchange with interest, content for now to stay back and listen. "Do you know who this woman is?"

"I have not seen her before. She is registered under the name Jane Doe, if that helps you." Uncle Jake and Daphne looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Did that name match her credit card?" Uncle Jake asked, lowering his voice another fraction. Suddenly worried they were being spied upon, Daphne crossed the room and pressed her ear against the door, listening for breathing.

"She paid in cash. Jane Doe is doing her best to cover her identity."

"Well, I'm sure if she confronts us, we can work something out," Uncle Jake said with a dashing grin, smoothing out his hair.

Unimpressed, Ivan creased his brow. "I don't think so. This woman meant business."

Daphne detached herself from the door and stepped forward, into the conversation. "What did she look like?"

Ivan thought about this. "Her hair was hidden under a cap and hood, but her eyes were gray. She did not look much older than you."

"Do you think she's human?" Daphne pressed.

"Now that you mention it, she had a look in her eyes that made her seem very old. My guess would be that she has Everafter blood."

Goose bumps prickled Daphne's arms. She tried to think, think of what Everafter might have interest in an obscure cave in Russia. The problem, she knew, was that she and Sabrina had no training in these Everafters who had never graced America. And, now that the barrier was down, someone they knew could have traveled here. This woman could be anyone, have any past.

Ivan checked his watch. "We have been talking for too long," he insisted. "I will try to draw suspicion away from you. Leave, as soon as you can."

Uncle Jake stepped forward to shake his hand, and then Daphne. "I owe you, Ivan," Uncle Jake said.

But Ivan shook his head as he backed toward the door. "You helped me once, Jacob. I do not forget."

He was in the room one moment, gone the next, leaving behind only the soft snap of the door closing.

Uncle Jake crossed the room in two strides and began to gather his things. "Let's go, Marshmallow."

"Where to?" Daphne asked, already packed. "And why can't we teleport in here?

Glancing around the room once more, Uncle Jake unrolled the map, tapped one of the red circles, and then handed it to Daphne to stick under her hat. "When we teleport we leave a trace. Someone with the right magic could figure out where we went if they knew the spot we left from, so we should teleport from a very unspecific place."

Once their room was tidied, Daphne headed to the door only to be distracted by her uncle snapping to get her attention. He threw the curtains of the window aside and fumbled to slide the pane up.

Getting the idea, Daphne joined him and helped him tug on the window. Frost feathered the metal frame, and when the window slid up, it squealed and creaked.

"Subtle," Daphne commented, wincing at the rush of cold air that stung her face.

Uncle Jake cringed and stuck his head out the window. "I don't think we drew any attention. Let me give you a boost." Kneeling, he laced his fingers together. Daphne stepped onto his hands and then onto the windowsill, where she nearly fell four feet onto the alley become. She couldn't stand upright, could only crouch awkwardly with her hands on the side of the frame, so she twisted and hopped down quickly.

Uncle Jake followed, his coat flapping around him like the wings of an overgrown bat. They took off at a brisk pace down the alley, which was narrow enough that Daphne could stretch out her arms and touch Ivan's four-story hostel and the neighboring store. A noise from the top floor of the hostel caught her attention as they walked. She looked up, did a double take and then ground to a halt.

"Uncle Jake!"

"What?" Her uncle spun around. Daphne jerked her chin upward. A woman stood upright on the sill of the top window directly above them. Her fingers merely brushed the sides of the building around her, as if balancing on a narrow strip of wood was no harder than standing on the sidewalk. It would have been easy to imagine her as a statue, except she was glaring at them.

Daphne frowned. Even at such a distance, there was something awfully familiar about her eyes.

Uncle Jake appeared dumbstruck, staring up at her with his arms hanging at his sides and his mouth slightly open. Daphne grabbed his arm and tugged him back the way they'd come. She knew they should turn and run, taking their eyes off this woman seemed like a terrible idea.

As they watched, she stepped off the side of the building and fell, landing catlike on the ground. Daphne gasped the woman straightened, the lower half of her face obscured by a scarf that looked like it could have been made of cobwebs and her hair hidden under her hood.

"Turning back?" she asked, not even acknowledging the impossible jump she'd made. Her voice was surprising, strangely high and girlish. She stood stiffly at around Daphne's height.

This seemed to jolt Uncle Jake out of his reverie. Stepping in front of Daphne, he replied, "I'm afraid not. Who are you?"

Daphne moved so they were side by side again as the girl's eyes narrowed. Uncle Jake was fiddling with something under his overcoat.

"You don't remember me? How typical. Run back to safety, Grimms. This is your only warning. Continue your search, and I will make sure you perish."

Unable to stop herself, Daphne asked, "Why?"

Rage lit up her eyes. "You have no business uncovering Everafter secrets." She reached for her waistband and pulled out a slim, gray handgun.

Faster than Daphne could process, Uncle Jake snatched her arm and then they were folding in half, and then half again, and again as the world became a blur of color, before landing feet-first on solid ground.

"Thanks for the warning!" Daphne cried, as her uncle hollered, "Run!"

Pulling Daphne behind him, he pelted down this new street, tapping buttons on their teleporter as they went.

Daphne shook her head to clear it. They'd landed on a bustling street somewhere hot and painfully sunny. It so was crowded that no one seemed to notice their sudden appearance. Immediately beginning to sweat, Daphne followed her uncle, looking over her should every few seconds.

True to Uncle Jake's prediction, the strange woman blinked into existence moments behind them. She spun around and spotted them almost immediately. Although she'd put her gun away, the sight of her made Daphne's skin crawl.

They made one sharp turn, and then another. Somehow, their shadow was catching up to them. Daphne's breath was tight in her chest. Just as she began to slow down, her uncle reached for her hand. It was strange to teleport while moving. Daphne tripped and fell into the familiar sensation of folding in half.

Daphne gasped. Uncle Jake had taken them to Central Park. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed her city since she'd been traveling, and she almost forgot to run after her uncle.

They hadn't gone farther than half a block before Uncle Jake grabbed her again and they teleported back into the snowy forest.

Breathing hard, Uncle Jake sat down on the ground, pushing his hair off his forehead. Struggling to get her bearings, Daphne rested her hands on her knees and stared hard at the ground, waiting for it to stop spinning.

"I think we lost her," Uncle Jake said finally, standing up and brushing snow off the seat of his pants.

"Who was that?" Daphne gasped. "She said she _knew_ us? I swear I've never seen her before in my life."

They waited in the cold, pacing for about ten minutes before determining that they had indeed lost the mystery woman.

"Well, it looks like we've entered into a race, Marshmallow. Time to make our next move," Uncle Jake declared, holding his hand out for the map.

* * *

Sabrina turned the business card over in her gloved hand, took a deep breath, and knocked. Snow fell in dreamy flurries around their heads, and, having spent the last six years in New York, the thick blanket of silence that surrounded them was disorienting. They waited for so long that Sabrina double-checked the address on the card.

"Let's knock again," Puck said. Sabrina caught his hand as he raised it.

"That's rude."

A low creak caught their attention, and they turned to see a head poking out of the gap between door and frame.

"Yes?" An older man in circular glasses peered owlishly at them, his mouth set in a grim line.

"Hi, is Benjamin Andersen here?" Sabrina asked, stumbling over her words, thrown off by the intensity of his stare.

"I am he. And you are?"

"I'm Sabrina Grimm and this is—"

"Get inside, get inside!" Benjamin whispered, waving his arm. Sabrina and Puck hurried over the threshold. "Stay. I'll be right back."

"He didn't even care who I was!" Puck hissed in Sabrina's ear, as Benjamin disappeared up the stairs. "He should be bowing right now. I'm the Trickster King!"

"Shut up, fairy boy."

Benjamin returned, took their coats, and led them down a dark, cramped hallway. He swiveled his head around constantly, as if he expected to see someone else creeping up on him in his own house. They followed him into his study, which was one of the most impressive rooms Sabrina had ever seen. Dark red curtains were pulled tightly against the few windows, and a fire cracked and snapped in the fireplace. The walls were composed of shelves, and each shelf was cluttered with artifacts—wands, jewelry, moldy books, even a small skull that looked like it belonged to a Lilliputian. She was glad Uncle Jake wasn't with them. He would have done anything to get his hands on some of this stuff.

Puck made a beeline for a rusty sword tacked to the wall, but Benjamin snatched the back of his coat. "Away from that, Puck."

Puck whirled on the old man, one eyebrow cocked. "You know who I am."

Benjamin sank into the plush chair behind his desk with a groan. "Of course I do. I know all about you, and you. What brings you to the far reaches of this planet? Why did you call upon me?"

Puck and Sabrina looked at each other. They hadn't discussed what they would do once they arrived, whether or not they would trust this man, but Sabrina felt there was no choice.

"We're looking for the Lost Cave."

"Oh! Is that right?" Putting on a pair of round spectacles that only accentuated his owlish features, Benjamin leaned forward. "And I suppose you two aren't alone in this endeavor?"

Sabrina gathered her thoughts, disoriented by Benjamin's odd manor of speech. "My sister and my uncle are working with us, but we split up. Puck and I need to find Kikimora the Bog Hag and Nightingale the Robber."

The old man's eyes slid between the two. Sabrina felt Puck straighten next to her, as if he were trying to appear taller.

Gripping the arms of his chair, Benjamin replied, "Do you understand the full danger of the situation into which you have entered?"

"What?" said Puck blankly. "Oh…no we don't."

This seemed to launch Benjamin into artifact-collector mode. He spun his chair around to face the bookshelf behind him and pulled a book with a slimy-looking green cover out from it.

"Russian folklore," Benjamin explained, turning the frail pages with utmost care. "I will warn you about both of these entities. But know that if you do choose to continue your journey, I will bear no responsibility for any harm that may find you."

He paused, tapped the page with his finger, and looked at them over the top of his glasses. "And harm will find you."

Chills raced up and down Sabrina's arms. Puck shifted from one foot to another next to her and she waited for some snide comment to come out of his mouth, but he stayed silent.

Benjamin continued without waiting for an answer. "Bog Hag slumbers in fen, far south from here. She awakens every other night to prey on unsuspecting travelers that cross her marsh. Of course, in this modern era, there are not many and my sources tell me that her nighttime prowls are less frequent. You need seaweed from her?"

"Right," Sabrina replied, relaxing a bit. The Bog Hag didn't sound any more dangerous than creatures she'd encountered in Ferryport Landing and later, New York.

"She wears seaweed like a cape, a gift from her Hobgoblin husband. You won't need much, a handful will do, but she will not part with it willingly."

Puck puffed out his chest. "I'm sure I can snatch some."

"That would not be wise," said Benjamin, turning the page. "Bog Hag possesses her own brand of dark magic. She may not be able to catch you with her arms but she will catch you with her words. You could try a riddle contest or a trade. I do not know what she would want.

According to his legend, Nightingale the Robber is a man who haunts the road from Chernigov to Kiev. Once that road became more populated, he moved. Today he lives in a nest of nine oak-trees with his three daughters and their husbands on the Road of Bones, the only road that leads to Oymyakon. His whistle will cause anyone who hears it to die of fright."

Sabrina frowned. "That makes no sense."

Benjamin paused, and Sabrina resisted the urge to take a step away from the look he was giving her. "The Robber has been around since before the days of man. He knows secrets we do not."

Benjamin stared at her some more, waiting for her to look down, but Sabrina held his gaze.

Puck cleared his throat. "We don't have to worry about dying."

"You mean _you_ don't," Sabrina corrected him. The Grimms had decided to keep word of their immortality away from public ears.

Benjamin managed half a smile, recovering from the previous tension. "I know of your condition," he said to Sabrina. "But Nightingale the Robber has indeed killed Everafters with his whistle. And if you want a piece of his treasure, he would certainly rather kill you than listen to reason."

Sabrina's stomach twisted. She grabbed the back of the chair in front of her. "And how do we get around that?"

"He will not whistle while your eyes are on him. Therefore, one of you must watch him at all times, and both of you must wear earplugs when you approach and leave him. The Robber is slippery. He will most definitely challenge you to a contest or ask for something in return, if he even grants you an audience, and then stab you in the back. Never let your guard down."

Benjamin folded his hands and waited. Sabrina turned to Puck in an effort to give their conversation some privacy. "What do you think?"

Puck shrugged. "We said we'd do this, so let's do it."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "He's right; we could get hurt. Maybe we should contact Uncle Jake."

Puck raised his eyebrows in mock shock. "Grimm, are you telling me you need an adult's permission to do something? What happened to you?"

Clenching her fists, Sabrina growled, "Fine. But if we die for this, I'll kill you."

Puck grinned. Sabrina's face felt like it was on fire.

"You should target the Nightingale first," Benjamin continued as if no exchange had just occurred. "If you go at midnight, you'll have the best chance of drawing his attention. You are welcome to stay here for the remainder of today to plan."

"Thank you," Sabrina replied.

"Anything for Relda's granddaughter," Benjamin said with another partial smile, which seemed to be the biggest he could manage. "You may join me for dinner at seven. If you leave the house, knock on the back door to return."

As Benjamin stood to leave, Sabrina thought of something else. "Why were you so anxious to get us into the house?"

Discomfort flitted across the man's face, but his features smoothed out as he replied, "It's -70 degrees Fahrenheit in Oymyakon today, my dear." With that he was gone, and Sabrina and Puck were left alone with the popping of the fire.

Puck stared after him. "Is it almost seven? I'm starving."

Sabrina felt her stomach growl as she checked her watch. "It's 11:42. Want to go looking for lunch?"

Puck's eyes lit up. "Sure! You keep watch, I'll sneak into the kitchen!"

"I meant in the village, Stinkpot."

"Oh, okay," Puck agreed, his shoulders sagging. Digging around in his bag, he pulled out a small vial of bright blue potion. "Here, take a sip of this."

"Uh," Sabrina began, eyeing the small bubbles that floated around on their own accord inside the potion.

Puck uncapped it and took a swig, grimacing at the taste. "Jake and I bought this from a vendor in the Amazon. It's a translator potion, so drinking it lets you understand languages around you and speak in other languages."

Sabrina accepted the bottle. "It was weirdly smart of you to think of this," she conceded, turning it over in her hands.

"What did you just call me?" Puck asked.

Sabrina paused. "Nothing."

He pointed an accusing finger at her. "Good."

They bundled up again and set out to explore the village, although it turned out there was not much to explore. Oymyakon was comprised of one store, an open market, and short streets of houses. Each house they passed had a funny little shed in the backyard, which Sabrina hoped weren't outhouses. When she voiced this to Puck, he laughed so hard that he ran out of breath, which was not hard to do in the bitingly cold air. She could tell Benjamin hadn't been kidding when he'd told them the temperature.

At the market, Sabrina and Puck bought some hot food from a vendor and then wandered into the store. Unwinding the scarf from around her face, Sabrina took a deep breath, enjoying the way the warm air didn't hurt her lungs.

Puck grabbed a brochure off a shelf near the counter. The motion was automatic, and Sabrina watched in surprise as he flipped it open and began to read. After a minute, he gave her a funny look and asked, "Why aren't you looking at one of these?"

"Why _are_ you looking at one of those?" Sabrina countered. "Also, when did you learn to read?" A worker re-shelving boxes of tissues paused behind them and gave Puck a critical once-over.

"Jake says that normally when you travel places, you read all the brochures you find. Look." Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a handful.

Grinning, Sabrina looked through them. At the top of the stack was _A Journey through Howe Caverns, All About the London Eye,_ and _What is the Emerald Ash Borer?_

"Uncle Jake told you to read these?" she clarified. Puck rolled his eyes and nodded, but Sabrina snorted. "Oh my god, he tricked you into learning!"

Puck put the brochure back hastily. "It's not learning!"

Cracking up, Sabrina replied, "Oh yeah? What _is_ the Emerald Ash Borer?"

"A green jewel beetle that's native to Asia," Puck replied immediately. Then he clapped a hand to his mouth and sat down on the ground. "Oh, no!"

Sabrina was beside herself. She doubled over laughing. When she looked up again, Puck had gotten to his feet and moved to the door to sulk.

"So, what did you learn today?" Sabrina mocked.

"Nothing! I learned nothing!" Puck crossed his arms and stormed out of the store. Sabrina scooped the brochure off its shelf, thinking that it could come in handy, and followed him out into the snow.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Benjamin's wife, Ellen, had cooked a meal of fish and canned asparagus. Sabrina thought it was an improvement over their usual dinners of granola bars and canned and dried food.

"Why did you move to Oymyakon? It seems to be the loneliest village in the world," Sabrina asked when the silence became too awkward to bear.

Benjamin's long face seemed to grow sadder. "Because of my job, because of the items I possess, I am often harassed by Everafters looking to barter or steal what they want. We moved out here for some peace and quiet. Only my brothers know where I am."

Ellen swallowed a bite of food and added, "This corner of the world is where people come who want to stay hidden. And that is why you must be careful."

Her husband's eyes flitted to each corner of the tiny kitchen. Silverware clinked against plates.

"How did you two like Oymyakon?" asked Ellen. She was a rotund woman with a distinct American accent and solemn eyes.

"It was nice," Sabrina replied in an effort to be polite, looking around as well. Benjamin was making her jumpy.

"Do you really go to the bathroom outside?" Puck asked, leaning forward.

Sabrina scowled in his direction. "You don't have to answer that," she assured the Andersens.

"What?" Puck continued defensively. "Cars have to be kept in heated garages, and you can't have indoor plumbing because the ground is too frozen." He glanced around for confirmation and then, seeing the look on Sabrina's face, glared at his plate and began to shovel food in his mouth.

Silence returned, and then Ellen cleared her throat. "Benjamin tells me you seek Nightingale."

"That's right," Sabrina replied, shifting in her seat.

A crease appeared on the old woman's forehead. Her piercing eyes seemed to stare right into Sabrina, leaving her feeling vulnerable in a way that she hadn't before. "The Road of Bones is dangerous to walk at night. They say the spirits of those buried there haunt it until sunrise."

Benjamin cut in. "Those rumors are founded on those whom Nightingale allows to live, Ellen."

Puck rolled his eyes. "We're not afraid of ghosts. Or birds!"

Sabrina nodded in agreement, losing track of the conversation. She was deciding that she didn't like knowing their job so far ahead of time. In the old days, most of their adventures had been spur of the moment. Now, between the Yeti and the Nightingale, she had time to sit and stew over the plans she'd make with Puck this afternoon. As the task ahead of them loomed, nerves were beginning to set in.

Sabrina was no stranger to nerves. She'd played soccer in high school, and this feeling was similar to the one she would get before an important game. Swallowing a bite of food, she put down her fork and took a sip of water, deciding that the fish was only adding to her queasiness.

As Ellen cleared the plates, Benjamin motioned for Puck and Sabrina to follow him into his study.

"Before you go, I need to know how you found us," Benjamin whispered, handing them both a pair of earplugs.

"My uncle had your business card," Sabrina replied, fishing around in her pocket and pulling it out.

He plucked it out of her fingers scrutinized it. "How very odd. I did not make those."

The velvety quiet of the study was interrupted by a shrill noise that sounded like steam whistling out of a teakettle. Benjamin went very still for a moment and then crossed the room in three strides. He tapped a few buttons on a clock that had symbols instead of numbers, and the noise stopped. Then he moved to the window and peeked out the curtains.

Turning around, he asked, "Do you have a tail?'

Puck looked over his shoulder to check his backside. "Not today."

Benjamin groaned, hurrying toward the door and motioning for them to follow. He locked the study and they met Ellen in the front hallway, where she was sliding the deadbolt across the front door.

"House, lock up," Ellen whispered to the wood. Sabrina's stomach knotted as she pictured her grandmother with her giant ring of keys.

"Upstairs, upstairs," Benjamin urged. They followed him up a narrow, rickety flight of stairs and entered a room that was bare except for a couch and a telescope pointed at the window.

"Do you have a tail?" Benjamin repeated forcefully, directing the conversation at Sabrina. She resisted the urge to do what Puck had done.

"You mean, is someone following us? I don't think so."

'My sensor sensed that someone was nearby for longer than five minutes. Either they've found you, or they've found me."

"Who is 'they'?" Sabrina prompted, irritated at the commotion the old man was causing.

His hands fluttered up to his collar and back down to his sides. "One of the rogue Everafters that inhabit the far north. If they caught wind of your intentions to open the Lost Cave, they may be looking for you. Look…"

He twitched the curtain aside. In the dim light of the moon, Sabrina could see the silhouette of a person standing on the road. It was impossible to tell which direction they were facing, but Sabrina thought it was odd to stand so still in a place that was so cold.

"Creepy," Puck muttered.

Ellen looked at the other side of the curtain. "My guess would be they're here for the kids. I would be shocked to have been discovered. Are there more of them?"

"My machine indicated this person is alone." Benjamin drew his wife away from the window.

Sabrina realized she was shivering, although she wasn't sure why. "We should leave. I don't want them to find you."

Ellen took her hand. Sabrina resisted the urge to pull away.

"We'll get you out safely. Head south and you'll find the road. Contact us or visit if you need anything," she whispered.

"Okay," Sabrina agreed, bracing herself for what was to come. The feeling in her stomach was similar to that of climbing up a large hill on a roller coaster as she added, "Let's go find the Robber."


	4. The Nightingale Sings

"Where are we going?" Daphne cried, struggling to keep up as Uncle Jake loped along down a frozen side street.

"Uh," her uncle panted, glancing over his shoulder at the angry stray dog that was chasing them and yipping as if its life depended on it. "Away from this dog! Jeez, what did we ever do to this thing?"

Daphne's stomach was churning a way that made her think of butter. She squeaked, "What happens if it catches us?"

She'd tried to befriend the dog, hoping it would be a little like Elvis, to no avail. The only reason it hadn't caught up with them yet was that one of its back legs was mangled and useless, leaving it with just three good legs to chase them with.

Uncle Jake burst out laughing. "We've survived worse!"

It was hard to argue with that. They'd nearly frozen to death the night before, since Sabrina and Puck had the space heater.

Thinking of the two of them made Daphne's stomach squirm even more. They hadn't heard from the pair in a while, and worry was beginning to eat away at Daphne. When Uncle Jake had tried to communicate with Puck via the watch, they'd gotten no answer. Daphne wasn't stupid. She knew that Puck and Sabrina had been given the more physical, dangerous job, no matter what Uncle Jake said about them being able to handle themselves. How would she carry on if anything happened to Sabrina?

Uncle Jake was searching through his pockets as he ran. Deep in thought, Daphne nearly missed her uncle turn a sharp corner and had to skid after him. He peeled a few Slim Jims and threw them in the other direction. The dog took off after that instead, and the Grimms were in the clear.

Well, almost. Slamming into the wall of an alley, Daphne struggled to keep up. She was no stranger to running, even ran track at school, but her uncle was in a league of his own when it came to speed.

"Uncle Jake, what's your training program?" she shouted after him.

He flew out of the other end of the alley and spun to wait for her, eyes alight. "Get chased by things! That'll build up your stamina!"

Rolling her eyes, Daphne skidded to a halt beside him and rested her hands on her knees, breathing hard. The two pigtail braids she'd opted for today swung down and bounced against her collarbones. She pushed them back.

"Where's the next cave? I'm bored with not finding anything."

"Not far. We're going to take a train to the next town," her uncle replied, checking his watch.

Daphne straightened and adjusted her hat. "Why can't we teleport?"

"It's not worth the cost to do it when we can get to the place by train in a few hours," her uncle reasoned, lowering his voice as a couple strolled past them. "Besides, taking the train is much more discrete."

Uncle Jake and Daphne both looked around as if expecting the strange woman to appear from behind a street sign at any moment. It wasn't an unrealistic fear. After giving her the slip, they'd visited the two caves that had been clumped together. Everywhere they went, Daphne could feel the back of her neck prickling, as if someone was watching them. If the mystery woman could fall several stories to the ground and be fine, who knew what else she was capable of? Daphne could easily picture her transformed into a tree or a fox, keeping an eye on them from the shadows.

Daphne felt like she was losing her mind. Whenever they weren't in the city, she swore she could see tiny dots of light in the distance. But whenever she would try to point them out to Uncle Jake, they'd disappear. Daphne felt sure that there was a connection between them and the woman. But she had no proof.

They walked in silence, avoiding eye contact with their fellow pedestrians, trying to be as forgettable as possible. Every few blocks, Uncle Jake would lift his glove off his palm and study the crude map of the city he'd drawn there. After about ten minutes of quiet turns and watching their breath rise in the air, the train station appeared, a low, gray building in a sea of taller office complexes. Uncle Jake bought tickets and before long they were sitting across from each other on grimy seats of hard plastic.

Rubbing her defrosting fingers, Daphne watched the other passengers board out of the corner of her eye. They were sitting in the seats closest to the door, just in case, and not one person looked their way as they walked past. None of them resembled the mystery woman. Daphne shook her head, trying to clear her image from her mind. Where could she have possibly gone?

Uncle Jake and Daphne both jumped as Uncle Jake's phone went off. Casting a furtive look around, he slid it out of his breast pocket.

"You've got Jake," he said quietly. Then the frown lines on his forehead relaxed and he sat back. "Hank! How's it going?"

Daphne leaned forward, gripping the yellow edge of her seat. "Is that my dad?" she whispered.

He nodded. "Yes, we're all fine. Russia. Oh, don't worry. I'd say equal danger to America, probably. Uh, sightseeing." Running a hand through his hair, Uncle Jake rolled his eyes. Adopting a comforting tone, he continued "Really, everyone's fine."

Uncle Jake was silent for a long minute, and then let out a nervous laugh. "No! Of course I didn't split anyone up! Here, wanna talk to Daphne?"

 _How did he know?_ Uncle Jake mouthed, panic visible on his face.

Daphne accepted the phone eagerly. She'd been getting homesick over the past couple of days. "Dad!"

"Daphne, are you sure you're fine? Tell me honestly," her father said without preamble.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Daphne replied shortly, tempted to take a leaf out of her uncle's book and roll her eyes. Henry had been less than on board with Sabrina and Daphne's winter break plans, but would it have killed him to start his sentence with a simple greeting?

"What have you been doing?" her father pressed.

"Oh, just traveling and sightseeing," Daphne replied lightly, making eye contact with her uncle, who gave her a thumbs up. She felt a little guilty lying, but she knew her mom wouldn't mind what they were doing and she didn't want her father insisting they end their trip early. "We're on a train right now, actually."

 _Authenticity,_ she mouthed at her uncle.

"Can I talk to Sabrina?"

Daphne winced. _He wants to talk to Sabrina!_

Her uncle cringed.

"Sure! Here she is! Bye Dad! Love you!" Before he could protest, Daphne thrust the phone into her uncle's hands. Uncle Jake shook his head violently and shoved it back at her.

This scuffle went on for several seconds, until they could both hear a tinny voice coming out of the phone. Shaking her head, Daphne slapped the phone to her ear, cleared her throat, sat up straight, and said in a slightly affected, nasally voice, "Hi, Dad."

Uncle Jake put his hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter.

"Sabrina? Are you feeling okay?"

Daphne's eyebrow went up. Her father had the Grimm detective gene whether he liked it or not, that was for sure. "Yes, I feel great. I'm just getting over a cold."

"That's strange, you weren't sick when you left."

"It must be a Russian thing," Daphne blurted out, unable to think of a better answer.

"Well, all right. Is everything going okay? Puck isn't giving you any trouble, is he?" An edge crept into Henry's voice.

"No, for once Puck and I are getting along," Daphne replied with a shrug, which caused her uncle to double over in his seat, his shoulders shaking.

"Not too well, I hope," Henry replied.

"Ugh, Dad!" Daphne choked the words out and then held the phone away from her ear so he wouldn't hear her laugh.

Uncle Jake composed himself, leaned forward and swept the phone out of Daphne's hand. "All right, Hank, we've got to go. It was great talking to you, we'll call you soon!"

Flopping back in her seat, Daphne flicked a braid off her shoulder. "Being Sabrina is exhausting," she declared.

Her uncle let out a sigh and pocketed his phone. "That was great, though. You saved us from a serious talking-to when we get back to the States."

Daphne shook her head. "I do my best to avoid talking-to's."

* * *

"Is it just me, or is this boring?" Puck whispered. They'd been walking alongside the Road of Bones for about twenty minutes after sneaking away from the Andersen's house. At this hour, the cold hovered at the brink of unbearable. Their breath mingled in the air like smoke puffed from cigarettes and then dissipated into shimmers against the blackness of the sky.

"Just you," Sabrina hissed, crossing her arms to try and stop her shivering. There was no sign of the Nightingale's roost yet, so both pairs of earplugs were tucked inside Sabrina's glove, against her palm. She thought dryly that leaving them out allowed them to have meaningful conversations like this.

Not that either of them were speaking much. The tundra was frozen silent at night, the frosty ground glittering in the moonlight like cold crystal. The few trees they'd passed were spread far apart, and their shadows stretched to stripe the road ahead of them so that Puck and Sabrina seemed to walk between two different worlds as they went forward.

Any other day Sabrina might have liked to stop and take it all in, but right now she was a mess. She looked over her shoulder so often that she might as well have had a twitch, struggling to make sense of the black and white road. Every time they walked into a patch of shadow, the fine hairs on the back of her neck would stand on end.

So far there was no sign of any other living creature, including the person who'd been standing outside of the house, aside from an arctic fox who she'd almost stepped on.

She tried to focus on the task at hand, on the road ahead, but the chill was making it difficult to think. Air that couldn't even be classified as cold sliced right through her layers as if she was wearing nothing more than tissue paper, and sank into her bones. They'd opted for less clothing than they probably should have, reasoning that it would be easier to run away from Nightingale if they wore one pair of gloves, no puffy jackets, slimmer boots. Sabrina knew this would pay off in the end, but right now she was regretting the decision.

Puck stopped so fast that Sabrina walked right past him and had to turn around. "Where did you go?" she hissed, throwing up her fists.

His voice erupted from a stripe of darkness, making her jump. "Chill out. I see trees, that's all."

"Oh," Sabrina muttered, squinting down the road into the gloom. "I don't."

Puck stepped forward, and the moonlight bounced off his coat. Pointing at his eyes, he bragged, "Superior vision, Stinky."

"You just used the word superior." Even though her teeth were chattering, taking away most of the bite behind her comeback, she knew without having to look that he was horrified. "Remember one of us has to watch him at all times."

"I know, I know. Do you think his whistling will really kill us?" Puck sounded more curious than scared.

"Let's not find out." Sabrina rolled her eyes as they started walking again, more slowly now. She clenched her hands into fists inside of her gloves, imagining fires and the desert and hot chocolate. When that didn't work, she tried to focus on her steps. Four steps, into darkness. Three steps, light. Seven steps, into darkness. Two steps, light.

"No, think about it. That old guy said people die of fright when he whistles, so maybe if we aren't scared, we'll be okay," Puck reasoned. "Or at least I will be. You, on the other hand, were afraid of Seamus."

"You put a little man in our toilet, Gas-bag!" Sabrina cried, the cold stinging her teeth, and then clamped her mouth shut, wincing as her shouts echoed off the open tundra.

Snow crunching under their boots was the only sound for a few minutes as they walked on, Sabrina seething, Puck smirking.

"Take your earplugs," she snapped finally, planting both feet in a strip of light. "Leave one in when we reach Nightingale. Do you remember the plan?"

Puck made a disgusting face. "Yes."

Scowling, Sabrina maneuvered around her layers and pushed the two spongy plugs into her ears, muffling the silent tundra. "Can you hear me?" she asked.

"What?" Puck mouthed as a sharp wind swept around them. Sabrina hunched her shoulders against it, gave Puck a thumbs up, and continued onward.

Hidden past a patch of darkness, the stand of trees popped into view suddenly, their silver, leafless branches reaching forty feet into the sky. Shadows oozed from the base as if they were spreading, trying to infect anything bright. Sabrina grabbed Puck's arm to stop him and counted. Her shivering intensified. Nine oak trees, each one wide enough that three people would have to stand in a circle around its trunk with difficulty. Together, they drew closer, until they were a stone's throw away from the stand.

For the first time, Puck's face betrayed his nerves. Sabrina watched him yell. "We seek an audience with Nightingale!"

 _More big words,_ Sabrina's panicked brain noted. _Well, for him._

For the longest time, nothing happened. Wiggling her stinging toes, Sabrina squinted into the trees, which were clustered together like a group of scared children. The moonlight was absorbed by the darkness at the stand's base, so Sabrina couldn't see any movement from within. She was glad that the rest of the landscape was open around them, confident that no one could sneak up on them during their exchange.

Puck nudged her and jerked his chin toward the left edge of the stand. Squinting, Sabrina was able to make out a shift in the shadows. Raising her arm, she pointed a finger at the object. "We see you! Come speak to us."

The movement ceased. Then Puck grabbed Sabrina's hand and pulled her out of the way as a dark projectile shot through the space she'd been occupying. A blast of cold air rushed past them as the shape continued up into the sky and then dropped back down to land mere feet away.

A short, stocky man with a hooked nose and thick beard stared at them. The brim of his cap was pulled low, casting his eyes into shadow. Black, leathery wings hung behind him.

"Are you Nightingale?" Sabrina asked, Puck's fingers twitching against hers. The man tilted his head to one side and pointed to them, and then his ear.

She didn't dare look at Puck to see if he was asking anything, so she continued, "How do we know you are Nightingale?"

Again, the man pointed to his ear, his expression unreadable. Sabrina knew there was a chance this was one of Nightingale's sons-in-law and that the true creature was hiding in his stand of oak trees, waiting for them to take their earplugs out so he could whistle. But Benjamin hadn't said anything about the husbands being Everafters, and she thought the chances of them being able to fly were slim. She wished she could consult with Puck. She was losing feeling in her fingers from how tightly he was squeezing her hand but didn't want to let go and lose this single connection to him.

Taking a deep breath, Sabrina reached under her scarf and took out one earplug.

"Thought you would never do that," the man grumbled. "Now tell me why I have two kids coming to bother me in the middle of the night. You people aren't supposed to know I'm here, you know."

Sabrina blinked, taken aback. "You speak English," she remarked, her brain working at half time.

"I'm speaking Russian, missy. Now who are you?"

"Translator potion," Puck muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Sabrina stepped on his foot, mentally kicking herself for forgetting and him for saying it out loud.

"It doesn't matter who we are," Sabrina countered as the wind picked up again, whistling through the nine oak trunks. "What matters is that we've come to ask you for a trade."

Nightingale crossed his arms. He was wearing no gloves, and even at night it was clear that his fingers were raw and red. "Aren't you a little _young_ to be asking Nightingale for a trade?" he sneered.

"Hey!" Puck snapped. "For your information, I'm—ow!"

Sabrina stepped on Puck's foot again just in time. Her heartbeat seemed to grow louder, until her ears pulsed with the sound. She had a hunch that Nightingale somehow, _somehow,_ knew who they were. Or at least guessed they were normal. And Sabrina's hunches weren't wrong very often.

"Teenagers are allowed to do all sorts of things these days," she responded in an attempt to draw attention from Puck's exclamation. "We want to trade you for one of your daggers."

"Which dagger?"

"Uh," Sabrina began, turning her head towards Puck before snapping it back toward the Nightingale, whose lips had formed into the shape ideal for whistling in that brief moment of time. "Any dagger you're willing to part with. And we want the dagger handed to me, hilt first. What do you want in return?" She readjusted her grip on Puck's hand, unable to tell which one of them was shaking, taking steady breaths to try and calm her racing heart. She'd covered everything, hadn't she? Closed all potential loopholes?

A feral grin spread across the Nightingale's face. With delicate care, he drew a sheathed dagger from his belt and held it up for them to see. "I want your earplugs," he replied.

Behind Nightingale, creatures in the stand whispered and rustled around. The noise was distracting, and Sabrina had to stop herself from looking into the gloom.

"Unacceptable," Puck responded, playing with her thumb nervously. "We'll give you anything else."

Nightingale cackled. "You may have this dagger in exchange for four earplugs. Make your decision. I can wait."

Stumped, Sabrina tried to think. They'd spent the majority of the day brainstorming items to offer and guessing what the Nightingale could possibly want. How stupid they were! Earplugs had never crossed her mind. Nobody, not even Benjamin, had thought to give them extras.

Puck took his hand back. Judging from the sounds he was making, he was rooting around in his bag, so Sabrina kept her eyes trained on the Nightingale, blinking one eye at a time, which took almost more coordination than she had. He stared back at her, his eyes as black as tunnels.

"Look," Puck said curtly. "We can give you a rare potion, only sold in the tropics of South America. I bet you don't get there often, do you? It'll let you speak in any language."

"All who live around here speak Russian." Nightingale leered, showing them two rows of oddly clean and white teeth. "Even if they didn't, I don't bother speaking to many strangers. Earplugs. I will accept no other offer." Again, his cackle rippled through the air and seemed to be echoed by creatures in his stand of oak trees.

Sabrina's lip curled. "Fine, you can have our earplugs."

She pulled her other earplug out of her ear.

"What?" Puck cried.

"We need the dagger," Sabrina said out of the side of her mouth. Louder, she said to Nightingale, "Give me the dagger at the same time my partner gives you the earplugs."

"Cheat, and I kill you. Be honest, and I'll consider letting you live," he replied, holding out the dagger.

The exchange was quick. "Puck, put your scarf in your ears before he can disappear," Sabrina hissed, zipping the dagger inside her pocket and hurrying to shove the fabric of her scarf into her ears.

" _That's_ your plan?" Puck groaned. Nightingale unfurled his wings and shot into the air, blending in with the sky.

"Oh, my god," Sabrina said out loud, clapping her hands over the pieces of scarf in her ears. Puck grabbed her and pushed off the ground.

That was when the whistling began. Sabrina understood in that very first instant how it could cause death, as the sound was more than just a whistle. It was all the terrifying noises Sabrina had ever heard, one right after another. Sabrina was accosted by the Jabberwocky's roars, the munching of the Erasers, screams of Everafters, baby Basil crying, the heavy breathing of the Wolf, Atticus Charming's voice. She was powerless against it, as powerless as she had felt when she was young.

Sabrina flinched instinctively and had to throw her arms around Puck's neck to stay airborne. He was not having an easier time than she, his face twisted, teeth gritted. Instead of moving upward, they were moving in an unsteady zig-zag.

"Oh, my god," he echoed in frustration as they hit the ground and pushed off again. The whistling stopped. Sabrina and Puck looked at each other, wide eyed, as they leveled out. She felt her scarf slip out of one ear.

They both cried out as the whistling started again, twice as forcefully as before. Sabrina's vision went black as the sound traveled around her body, lighting her skin on fire. Death seemed to reach its numb fingers toward her before she suddenly realized they were falling. Forcing herself to stay conscious, she opened her eyes. Puck's expression was blank.

"Puck! Snap out of it!" Sabrina yelled, clapping her hands over his ears and pressing hard, her own vision filling with purple and magenta blooms. Puck gasped like he was taking his first breath after being underwater for too long. He shot upward once again through the vibrating sounds of the Nightingale, flapping his wings hard. Sabrina felt she was screaming but couldn't hear it over the deafening noise of marionettes moving, Mayor Heart yelling through a megaphone, dragons roaring. And then the sounds manifested themselves into images, images of Daphne chained to a radiator in the orphanage, and Puck after his wings had been ripped off, and Briar Rose's broken body, and she squeezed her streaming eyes shut but it did no good, since the images were burned into her brain.

"Cover your own ears! Cover your own ears!" Puck was yelling over the wind and the roaring and the munching and the screaming.

"Just fly!" she replied soundlessly, pressing her head against his neck and hunching her shoulders in an effort to block out the sound, to block out the images that wouldn't stop, digging her nails into his scalp to try and release some of the pain onto someone else.

Puck's breathing was ragged and his arms trembled but he did what she told him to. Sabrina's breathing accelerated until she was hyperventilating in the sky. Tears that she had no control over leaked onto her cheeks and froze into her eyelashes. She would have given anything in that moment to block out the noise, but she didn't move her hands.

After what could have been one minute or a hundred years the whistling died down. Puck dove headfirst for the ground, twisting at the last second. They landed so hard on their feet that Sabrina's legs buckled, but Puck pulled her back up. They clung to each other, gasping for breath.

"Why'd you do that?" Puck croaked after a long minute, his head pressed against the side of hers, one hand gripping her hood. "You could have died."

She blinked repeatedly, struggling to think over the dull pulse of pain in her temples. The drunken aftereffects of the Nightingale's whistle had left her weak, as if she had just survived torture. Forcing herself to lift her head off of Puck's, Sabrina replied, "We had to get out of there. You had to fly."

On some unspoken agreement, they sat down. Sabrina fell backwards and laid on the snow, as if the coldness could be an ice pack for her entire body. Puck dropped his head between his knees, gasping for breath. She'd never seen him be so tired after flying.

"How far did we get?" Sabrina asked with difficulty, as the tears had frozen to her cheeks and made it hard to move her mouth.

Puck spat. "I have no idea," he panted. "I would say we should keep flying but I don't even know which direction we came from."

"We might as well make camp," Sabrina groaned, wrapping her arms around herself. "I don't think we could get much farther right now."

With a grunt, Puck got to his feet. "Move, Grimm, I'm about to set up the tent on top of you." His threat sounded deflated and defeated, like someone had let all the air out of.

Wincing, Sabrina rolled sideways and got to her feet, staggering and clutching her burning ribs. It was incredible how much strain Nightingale had put on her entire body, simply by messing with her head. Puck watched her with concern but seemed to know better than to act like she needed help. He dropped the model tent, and within seconds was inside.

Haunted by images, she staggered after him and fumbled with the tent's zipper for what felt like an eternity.

"I'll take first watch," she said through chattering teeth.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Puck asked, his voice coming from closer than she'd anticipated.

"I can't sleep right now."

"Me neither."

Sabrina thought about asking what he'd heard, but decided she didn't want to know. Instead they turned on the space heater and sat in silence, leaning on their rolled sleeping bags, staring into space. Eventually Puck fell asleep, but Sabrina stayed awake, reliving every moment of misery that she'd so carefully tucked away, every moment in which she had been too helpless.

Sabrina slid down so she was lying flat and stared at the crease in the ceiling of the tent. She could see faint dots of light through the fabric and, through the haze of memories and pain, thought they were stars. For a few minutes, she squinted, trying to make out a constellation, even though she didn't know any.

Frowning, she tilted her head. Were the stars moving?

Sabrina froze, her breath caught in her throat. Careful not to make a sound, she stood, shaking her head in a feeble effort to clear it. When she tilted her chin, her face was mere inches away from the top of the tent, and from this angle it was clear that the lights were indeed moving, and definitely not stars.

She stood stock-still, brain working sluggishly. Now that she was listening for it, Sabrina could just make out the soft crunch of snow under boots from outside the tent. Her heart shot into her throat to join her breath. The detective part of her brain, so often dormant nowadays, was beginning to wake up. The boots would take a few steps, pause, and then move again. Why? She was sure it wasn't Nightingale, if it was Nightingale they'd be dead already. A part of her wished it was him, because they knew how to deal with him.

Sabrina grimaced as a Nightingale-induced headache bloomed in her temples.

Rubbing them, she tried to think. The lights—were they Puck's pixies? She wasn't sure what the pixies were doing now that Puck was bouncing around the world.

She recalled what Benjamin had said about rogue Everafters hiding out up here. Had they been discovered? Sabrina cringed, realizing that their escape from Nightingale had been anything but discrete.

Was this person trying to get in? It didn't seem like it. Sabrina listened to the boots, bewildered. A tent wasn't exactly hard to break into, so whoever was out there must either be trying to figure out who they were or knew who they were and were too scared of them to enter.

Chills raced up and down Sabrina's back. Within the confines of the tent, with no escape route and her brain still working at half pace, she felt like she was at the mercy of this random person.

Sabrina took a deep, steadying breath. She knelt beside Puck, who was little more than an outline in the dim moonlight that filtered through the tent, and shook his shoulder. "Puck," she breathed in his ear, praying the person outside couldn't hear her.

He woke with a soft intake of breath that made Sabrina draw her hand away, her face inexplicably hot.

"Someone's outside the tent," Sabrina continued before he could say anything.

This seemed to wake him up. She felt him tense beside her and crawl to his feet, his head cocked like a bird listening for a worm. Outside, the sound of footsteps slowed, and then picked up as if the person was running away. Puck and Sabrina both lunged for the tent zipper, but by the time they got it open, the world around them was still.

Puck unfurled his wings and pushed off the ground, but Sabrina pulled him back down.

"We don't want people knowing you can fly," she whispered, returning her attention to the sky. She was looking for pixies, but they seemed to have vanished along with their mystery stalker. "Besides, you won't be able to see anything in this light anyways."

"Haven't I told you, Grimm, that I have superior vision?" Puck replied without bothering to lower his voice. "Okay, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"Pus-brain, I can see that you aren't holding any fingers up," Sabrina snapped, zipping the tent closed and shivering in the draft that had snuck inside.

"No! I'm holding up six fingers!"

"Puck! Your hands are literally by your sides!" Sabrina replied with a scowl, grabbing one and shaking it in his face. His hands were warm in comparison to her cold ones, and for a moment she didn't want to let go.

She reminded herself who Puck was and dropped them. "We should keep moving."

"Right," Puck agreed absently. For a moment they stared at each other, and then Sabrina turned and began to pack their sleeping bags back into the bottomless knapsack.

They spend the night walking through the forest, determining that would be more discreet than flying. In addition to the cold, exhaustion weighed on Sabrina's limbs, but trudging along was better than sitting in a tent waiting to be found again, and her tiredness allowed her to escape the horrible memories that Nightingale had dredged up. At some point in time, as the sky began to turn the color of denim in indication of the rising sun, Sabrina realized she wasn't really walking and was basically stumbling numbly after Puck.

Neither of them had said anything in at least an hour when Puck spoke up. "Thanks for covering my ears."

He said it with an unnecessary amount of force, as if it was a sentence he'd been trying to get out for some time.

Sabrina's face, already stinging from the dried tears, felt like it was on fire. "We had to get away," she replied, rubbing her eyes.

"You could have gone on without me."

"I wouldn't do that."

Puck was silent for a few steps, and then replied, "Neither would I. I wouldn't want to."

Sabrina felt a soft flutter in the base of her chest, but then reminded herself again who Puck was and how their relationship worked now. In a week and a half they'd be parted again, indefinitely, possible forever. There was nothing to gain by getting closer to him, and Sabrina resolved to keep her distance from this point on.

She realized that he was waiting for her to say something and almost did when a flash of movement caught her eye. Puck noticed it too, and he drew into the shadows of a tree. Moving beside him, Sabrina squinted. Around them, the world lightened a notch and the silhouette of a person appeared, closer than Sabrina had bargained for.

Puck yelped, jumped behind Sabrina, and then cleared his throat loudly and emerged as if nothing unusual had just happened.

"Hello?" Sabrina called, since Puck had ruined any chance of them staying hidden.

"I told your companions to give up," the silhouette replied in a voice that was as sharp as the edge of a sword but also snide.

Speaking of swords, Sabrina reached down and put a hand on her hilt. She'd strapped it on at the beginning of the trek, sure she wouldn't need it. "Companions?"

The girl took a few steps closer. Obscured still in shadow, she moved with an elegance that was almost regal.

 _Everafter,_ whispered a voice in the back of Sabrina's mind.

"The irritating girl and the man with the broken nose. I chose to forget their names, as your family became irrelevant to me six years ago. Until now, of course. Why follow me to the edge of the world, Your Highness?"

For once, Puck didn't seem to enjoy the title. He raised one eyebrow and looked at Sabrina as if she could somehow explain this, but Sabrina shook her head in confusion.

"Don't tell me you don't know who I am," the girl continued coldly. Her outline tilted its head to one side and again she moved toward them.

Puck appeared speechless. He squinted at her, one eyebrow higher than the other, even scratched his head. The girl stopped less than five feet away, and Sabrina realized they were having such difficulty making out her features because most of her face and head was wrapped in a cobwebby gray scarf that blended in with the shadows around her.

"We don't know who you are," Sabrina concluded, annoyed by the superior air this girl carried.

The sharp noise of sword leaving hilt rang through the quiet woods. Sabrina tensed in response, her hand sweaty on her own hilt, and adjusted her stance.

The girl let out a laugh that was devoid of humor, holding her sword at a downward angle from her body. "I heard you're looking for the Lost Cave. Run back to New York, peasants. I'll happily kill you both before I let you open it."

 _Peasants?_ The word rang in Sabrina's tired brain, and something clicked.

"We aren't going to be blackmailed by a random person," Puck replied, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, we aren't going home just because you want us to," Sabrina replied, her heart pounding. She knew that if they could keep this girl talking a little longer, she could recall who she was.

"You won't give up your search?"

Sabrina and Puck exchanged glances. "No," Sabrina replied.

The girl cocked her head. "So be it."

And she lunged at them, her sword cutting through the brisk air.

 **A/N:**

 **QUESTION 1: Who is the mystery girl? I'm really curious as to how she's coming off to readers, so if you have any sort of guess as to who she may be, please review and let me know!**

 **QUESTION 2: Length! Someone once said my first few chapters were too short. How is this one? Too long, too short, or just right?**

 **And if you have anything else to say about this chapter, good or bad, please say it! Reviews mean the world to me!**

 **Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or followed me/this story. It really means a lot!**

 **Disclaimer: I know zero things about Russia, so sorry if none of the setting is accurate**

 **Guest reviews:**

 **Arabella Quinn: You are totally right about the Marshmallow thing. Good point. I'll go back and change that when I get a chance. Thanks for pointing it out and thanks for reviewing so often, you're the best!**


	5. Distraction after Little Distraction

**A/N: Hello, everyone! I'm very, very sorry that I didn't write this chapter sooner (it's been in my head for ages, ugh), but I'm on Thanksgiving break now and I'm hoping to get out another chapter before that ends. I did make this chapter a bit longer than the last one to make up for not writing for a while.**

 **This chapter was fun to write because it's got some swordfighting, reveals the identity of the mystery girl (which some of you guessed—yay! Thanks for responding), some new characters, and some progress on the P & S end of things. Not a ton of stuff from Daphne's POV in this chapter, mostly because they're doing things that aren't exactly interesting to write or read about (although they are important!)**

 **As always, let me know what you think! I love hearing stuff about this story, whether it's good or bad.**

 **Thank you x10 to all the people who followed/favorited/reviewed!**

 **Reviewers:**

 **SJ: Thank you! I'm so glad you like it! Sorry this update didn't come sooner, I hope you didn't stop checking!**

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Anger rising in her gut, Sabrina blocked the girl's blow with her own sword and stabbed back. She was a little rusty with a sword, but not much, and her opponent jumped back in surprise before lunging again. Stepping closer, Sabrina thrust and parried, but before she could get in a blow, Puck slammed into her, knocking her off her feet, and they shot into the sky.

"Hey!" Sabrina yelled, her hilt slipping between her fingers before she could establish her grip again. "Why'd you do that? I had that under control!"

"You don't know how to swordfight! I don't even know why you jumped into that!" Puck yelled back over the wind, his voice loud in her ear. "Here we are again, Grimm, me saving your butt!"

Sabrina made an angry noise in throat. "Yes I do! And if I could've subdued her, we could've asked her questions!" As they spiraled higher into the sky, Sabrina made the wise decision to look down. She yelped and almost let go of her sword again.

"What?"

"Puck, she's flying after us!"

" _What?"_ They dropped ten feet as Puck looked down, as if he forgot he could both turn his head and flap his wings at the same time. And then Puck shot forward, flying faster than he usually did when he carried her. Sabrina's sword swung against them at the sudden change in speed, and she swore loudly as the blade sliced through her layers and nicked her skin. Craning her neck, Sabrina watched their attacker follow.

Suddenly, something clicked. "Moth!" she screamed, turning her head so the word landed on his cheek.

Puck was silent for a minute as he processed this. "No way!" he yelled back, anger replacing the concentration on his face. "No way."

And then they were speeding toward the ground again. Sabrina's numb fingers finally lost their grip and her sword fell, landing about ten feet away from them. They stumbled apart upon reuniting with the ground and looked up, searching for a black dot among the clouds. Puck bounced up and down on the balls of his feet, glancing between Sabrina and the sky, clearly torn between the idea of pursuing Moth before she could land and staying with Sabrina on the ground. Sabrina spun in a frantic circle, scrutinizing the snow for a glint of metal.

"Where is my sword?" she cried in frustration.

"You're better without it, Stink-Face. Just use your fists," Puck grumbled, angrier than she had ever seen him when they made eye contact.

Before Sabrina could retaliate, Moth was _on_ her. Sabrina cried out as she went down, face-first into the punishing cold of the snow. The girl wrapped one arm around her neck and jammed a knee into her back.

"I tried to kill you once," she hissed, holding Sabrina down as she struggled, her breath on Sabrina's cheek. "You breathe borrowed air. Puck! Stay back. You know I could kill her before you close the distance."

Sabrina's heart was rocketing around in her chest. She struggled to suck in air, her mind racing, looking for an out. Moth had to have a weakness. There was always a weakness.

Puck growled. "Moth, let her go!"

The arm around Sabrina's neck tightened but the knee disappeared, leaving Sabrina gasping for air. She noticed that Moth's right knee was resting more gingerly on the ground than her left.

"Even now, daring to come onto my territory, disobeying my orders. I lost everything because of you, Puck. Now you'll lose the one you love because of me."

"I don't—" Puck began to protest, and then fell silent as the ring of metal, of sword leaving sheath, shattered the air. Sabrina flinched instinctively. Snow crunched under his shoes.

Sabrina wasn't about to wait for him to save her. She wrapped an arm around Moth's left knee and rolled hard onto the right one, causing the other girl to cry out in pain, let go of her neck and throw out her hands to break her fall. Her sword hit the ground, just missing them both. As Moth scrambled for her weapon, Sabrina got to her feet and kicked it away, although it didn't go far in the snow. Puck lunged for her, but before he could grab her, Moth snatched her sword and shot up into the sky, spiraling gracefully in the light of the Artic sun.

Breathing like a wounded rhinoceros, Puck pushed off the ground as well, but Sabrina grabbed his ankle and tugged him back down.

"Let her go! We have to tell Uncle Jake and Daphne about this."

"She almost killed you!" Puck yelled, attempting to run his hands through his curls and grasping his hood in frustration instead.

Sabrina's hands were trembling, but for some reason his anger only made her impatient. "Well, she didn't, Gasbag! We're eighteen! You don't have to chase after her for me!"

Puck's brow knit, almost as if he was hurt. "Do you really think you'd still be alive right now if I wasn't here?"

"Yes!" Sabrina snapped, struggling to keep up the façade of indifference. She could have handled it well, even without Puck to scare Moth off, she told herself.

He paused with his mouth open as if he wasn't sure what to say. Then his eyes alighted on her leg and his eyebrows shot up.

"You're bleeding! Did she do that?" Liquid rage filled Puck's eyes, and Sabrina had to pull him out of the sky again.

"No, I cut myself when we were flying," Sabrina explained, wincing. Moth had been so distracting that she hadn't registered the pain above her knee until now. Looking around, she saw small splotches of pink snow where she'd been knocked over and felt suddenly woozy. She swallowed hard.

Puck groaned. "C'mon, Grimm, you're okay." He tramped away and returned a few moments later with her sword, which Sabrina accepted wordlessly.

"We should look in the bag for a first aid kit," Puck suggested, not quite looking at her, gesturing to her leg.

Sabrina shook her head, mentally pulling herself together. "No, let's get out of here first. I'm not bleeding anymore."

So, they flew low to the ground where Moth couldn't see them. After half an hour of dodging tree trunks with varying levels of success, they landed at the edge of a small town and found a cheap hotel. Once they were safely shut in a tiny room, Puck turned his attention to his wrist.

"Where'd my watch go?"

"You took it off, Gasbag."

Puck frowned and began to root around in the bottomless bag for it. "Why did I do that?" he muttered to himself, speeding up his search. "Jake's probably tried to contact us a few times, he'll kill me for not answering… here—"

Puck threw a first aid kit in Sabrina's general direction and then pulled out his watch. Sabrina ripped the hole in her pants so she could access the cut, not wanting to take them off and accidentally rub the wound.

As Sabrina steeled herself to disinfect the cut, Puck pressed a few buttons and then began to say, "Jake! Jake, can you hear me?"

"Puck?" came a surprised and slightly pissed voice from nowhere. "Are you alright? Is Sabrina okay?"

"Yes, we're both fine," Puck replied, looking up just in time to catch the pained expression on Sabrina's face as she applied antiseptic.

Her uncle took a deep, calming breath before continuing, "Why on earth haven't you answered my calls? Do you have any idea how worried we were? Daphne is beside herself—where is Sabrina?"

"Right here, everything is fine," Sabrina confirmed, covering the cut with a patch of gauze.

"Sabrina!" Daphne cried from the other end, relief evident in her voice.

"Hi, Daph," Sabrina whispered, her throat suddenly tight. Daphne had been _worried_ about her. Worried! She shouldn't have been so irresponsible. She should've thought of the watch sooner.

"Jake," Puck continued, cutting off her train of thought. "I know we should've contacted you sooner and I'm sorry about that, but right now we need to meet up with you guys. We have a huge problem."

"What is it?" Uncle Jake replied warily.

Sabrina and Puck exchanged glances. "I'd rather do this in person," Puck explained. "Just get my coordinates and come here. Please."

"All right," Uncle Jake agreed, clearly trying to maintain an irritated undertone. "Over and out."

"Over and out," Puck confirmed. With a rush of static, Uncle Jake and Daphne were gone. Sabrina scoffed, the pain in her leg subsiding. "You guys say over and out? What are you, submarine captains?"

Puck flushed. "It's professional!"

"It's not—whoa," Sabrina was cut off mid-sentence by a sudden wave of dizziness. "Okay, we need food."

They were eating granola bars on the floor, steeped an odd sort of silence that had everything to do with the events of the morning. It was a relief when a loud knock on door startled them. Before either of them could answer it, the door swung inward and Daphne and Uncle Jake spilled into the room.

Uncle Jake looked around and gave a low whistle. "Now this is a shoe box!"

Daphne raised a critical eyebrow. "Why is their only one bed?"

"We just got the room for the day. We've been walking all night," Sabrina said hastily, jumping to her feet, some combination of annoyance and humiliation rising in her stomach.

Uncle Jake also raised an eyebrow, making him look very much like Daphne's relative, and looked between Puck and Sabrina as if they were an equation he couldn't quite solve.

"Uncle Jake, stop," Sabrina said, aware of the fact that her own left eyebrow was now about halfway up her forehead.

"We're in the middle of an emergency here," Puck added, wringing his hat in his hands.

"Yes, Moth attacked us! Moth!" Sabrina continued, remembering why they'd called them here, waving her arms as if that would get her family's attention.

It did, but not in the way Sabrina had imagined. Daphne clapped a hand over her mouth and looked at their uncle in horror, and then back at Sabrina.

"That was Moth?" she breathed, her eyes as round as saucers.

"What?" Sabrina and Puck asked together.

They relayed stories. When they got to the part where Moth attacked Sabrina, neither teenager brought up the way Moth had accused Puck of being in love with Sabrina. The rest of the conversation did not hold many surprises, except that Puck was shocked that Moth owned a gun, while Sabrina was more surprised that she hadn't tried to use it on them.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Daphne asked in a low voice once they'd all caught up. "Moth clearly means business, and we don't even know what's in this cave. Maybe we should just go back to New York."

"Whatever's in this cave must be important, if Moth cares so much about it," Uncle Jake countered, scratching his stubble. "I have a feeling whatever it is needs to be kept away from her."

Crossing her arms, Sabrina added, "She has it out for me. She doesn't need more power."

Her uncle's eyes lit up. "I do believe we've stumbled into a really important mission."

Puck punched the air. "Operation destroy Moth: part two!"

Daphne met Sabrina's eyes, and Sabrina was startled to see the fear in them. Taking her hand, Daphne drew Sabrina away from the two men, who were too wrapped until conversation to notice.

"Maybe we should go home," Daphne repeated, her eyes darting to the others.

"Really? I thought you'd be the first person to want to take Moth down," Sabrina replied.

Daphne wrung her hands, distressed. "Moth really hates you, Sabrina. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Daphne," Sabrina whispered, putting a calming hand on her sister's shoulder. "If she wants to come looking for me, there's nowhere we can hide from her forever. We might as well do something about it. Come on, this is so unlike you. We aren't just running around the world anymore, we've got a mystery. What's that old saying?"

A small smile broke the tension on Daphne's face. "We are Grimms, this is what we do."

"Are you okay to continue this?"

Daphne nodded and pulled Sabrina into a tight hug.

Uncle Jake moved back over to them. "Here's the plan, if you guys are okay with it. Puck and Sabrina are going to continue with their part of the job, by going to Kikimora. You and I are going to go to Buyan."

"What is that?" Daphne asked.

"Buyan is an Everafter civilization pretty close to here," their uncle replied. "They have a massive library there. We're going to try to figure out what's in the Lost Cave."

Sabrina gave Daphne a reassuring nod. "I'll see you soon," she said.

* * *

After showers and several cups of coffee, Puck and Sabrina left the hotel for the bogs at the southern end of Russia. Uncle Jake had helped them pinpoint a large section of marshland where he insisted that the Bog Hag lived. They had the teleporter, and, after a few failed attempts, managed to land on the edge of a sweeping marsh.

It was warm enough here that the water stretched around them in its liquid state. Saturated clumps of vegetation, long grass and lily pads, floated and sank below the surface. About a mile away, coniferous trees rose into the sky, their understory dark and uninviting. The whole area smelled of rotting eggs. Torn between dislike for the bog and relief that they were in an area where the air didn'thurt her face, Sabrina chewed her lip, trying to think of something to say.

"I think we're in the right area," she settled on, dropping the teleporter into the bag.

Puck sniffed the air and grinned. "Smells like my kind of place!"

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "It smells like you, all right."

"Hey! I showered this morning. If anything, _you_ smell like me."

This much was true. Sabrina had borrowed his shampoo, since Daphne had theirs. Scowling at him anyway, she continued, "We're going to have to fly. We won't be able to walk on this."

They shed several layers of clothing to match the temperature and then flew toward the trees in silence. Puck's arms were stiffer than usual around her, and Sabrina wondered if he was still upset about what she'd said this morning, about not needing him.

 _So?_ She told herself firmly. _You don't. You didn't need him before, and you don't need him now._

She knew she was getting too used to his presence. He was too familiar to her, and Sabrina felt them falling into their old roles. But Sabrina wasn't a girl anymore, whatever feelings she'd had at eleven were long gone, buried.

They landed with a soft noise on a carpet of pine needles and stood for a moment, taking in this sturdier part of the swamp.

"Where should we go?" Puck asked in a hushed voice, his eyes darting around. Sabrina, too, was looking for signs of life, but the woods were devoid of creatures—Bog Hag or otherwise.

"In, I guess," she replied. Holding her breath, she took a step past the tree line, entering the dim world of the pine trees.

A raven _caa-caawed_ somewhere in the gloom, making her jump.

"Scared?" Puck mocked.

"Shut up," she hissed back, and forced her feet forward again, past trunks and over downed branches. The ground was oddly flat and dead, its only vegetation the blanket of yellowed needles.

After walking so far in that they couldn't make out the shore, Sabrina stopped. "What if we're in the wrong place?" she asked, attempting to rub the goose bumps off her arms.

Puck shrugged. "Only one way to find out," he replied. Throwing his head back, he yelled "Kikimora! We've come to speak to you!"

In the moment following his declaration the woods came alive around them with rustlings and shrieks. Puck and Sabrina drew closer together instinctively, as it became clear that they were the intruders, suddenly discovered by the creatures that had been slumbering.

"You call on Kikimora?" A voice creaked.

Sabrina whipped her head around, unable to figure out where it was coming from. She tried to remember what warnings Mr. Andersen had given them about the Bog Hag, but all she could picture was Daphne's worried face.

A creature melted out of a nearby tree, rubbing his hands together. He was about four feet tall, stocky, and covered in short, curly brown fur. She took an instinctive step away from him.

"Why are you here, humans?"

Sabrina blinked, startled by his voice. Although it was high and almost girlish, there was also an old quality about it that reminded her of dead branches creaking in the wind.

"We seek an audience with Kikimora," Sabrina explained to the humanoid, eyeing him warily. Was that webbing between his fingers, like a frog?

The creature snorted and crossed his arms. When he blinked, his eyelids came together vertically, making Sabrina shudder. "Then you'll have to go through Drest first, won't you?"

"Uh," Puck began. "Who are you?"

"Drest," he said coolly, ducking the question and tucking a curl of ruddy hair behind his pointed ear.

"You know Kikimora?" Sabrina clarified, trying to guess where this odd, shaggy creature fit in with the Bog Hag.

"Aye."

"Can you bring us to her?" Puck asked, taking an aggressive half-step forward.

A sharp, mean smile lit up his eyes. "Aye. If you do one thing for me first, that is."

"What do you want?" Puck asked, crossing his arms. Sabrina had a feeling that they were not going to like where this was going. She shivered in the shade of the pine trees.

Drest's hands shot up to either side of his head. He glared at them, the look in his eyes intensifying until they crossed. For a moment, the world dimmed and seemed to stretch. Sabrina felt as if her brain was being pulled toward her ear and cried out, grabbing her head.

Reality snapped back into shape like a rubber band, and Drest relaxed his hands, grinning an odd, canine grin that showed off his pointed teeth.

"What did you just do?" Puck hissed, the tremble in his voice so slight that Sabrina probably wouldn't have picked up on it if she didn't know him so well. "What are you?"

Drest tapped his long, membranous fingers together, mischief dancing across his features. "I know what I want from ye. One thing, and then I'll take you to see the old Bog Hag." He spat her title at them, like it was something sour.

Sabrina eyed him as she rubbed her sore head. Why did she have the feeling that those beady little eyes had seen her mind?

"Name it," Puck replied.

"A kiss," Drest said.

Sabrina drew her head back against her will. "No!"

Drest glared at her as if she was too much to handle. "I don't want you to kiss _me,_ insolent girl. I want you to kiss _him._ "

Sabrina blinked. "What? Why?"

"Kind of gross, man," Puck put in at the same time.

Sabrina wanted nothing more than to punch the smirk off Drest's face as he replied slyly, "You both know why."

Perhaps her mind-reading idea hadn't been crazy, after all.

"If the only reason for this is to mess with us, why can't you just take us to Kikimora? It won't benefit you at all," Sabrina argued, hoping her tone didn't give away the fact that she was suddenly breathing much faster than before.

Drest made a steeple out of his fingers and rested his nose on it. "Only the bravest travelers deserve an audience with Kikimora. Now, are you brave, or are you cowardly?"

Sabrina swallowed hard, feeling like someone had turned up the temperature in the bog by about a hundred degrees. She turned to Puck, glad for the distance between them. He looked paler than usual, she thought.

"Let's just do it and get it over with so we can get out of here," Puck muttered, his lips barely moving. When she didn't protest, he leaned toward her, and Sabrina, much like a deer caught in headlights, didn't move until the last second, snapping her head away from his lips.

"There must be a reason you're doing this," she said, her voice sharp as glass. "Why should we believe that you actually know Kikimora?"

She did not miss the way Puck jerked his head back as if he wasn't sure what had just happened.

Drest's empty eyes flicked away from hers and focused on something behind her before drawing back. Suspicions confirmed, Sabrina whirled around and gasped at the legion of eyes that blinked at her from the darkness.

"Trap," she breathed, drawing her sword.

Suddenly Puck's back was pressed against hers. They stood, weapons held at the diagonal, protecting their bodies shoulder to hip. Sabrina squinted, trying to count the squat, shadowy bodies that continued to manifest from the trees in every direction

"What are you?" Sabrina asked aloud, directing her question to Drest.

"We are the Kuli-baba," he hissed at them, his tone taking a sinister turn. "Drop your weapons. The bog will have you for dinner."

"We just came to speak to Kikimora!" Sabrina cried to him and the other creatures who were either standing still, blocking them in, or drawing closer so slowly that she couldn't even tell. Her mind racing, she remembered reading about the Kuli-baba in one of Grandpa Basil's journals. What had he said about them?

 _Mind-readers. Creatures of tree bark and mischief. Cowardly, hides behind their tricks. Lure you into the bog with little distraction after little distraction._

 _Carnivores._

Drest's laugh left him creaking and wheezing, like a tree attempting to breathe in the wind. "Kikimora is dead, foolish travelers! The bog had her for dinner just a few days ago."

Sabrina's heart sank right down through her stomach. How were they supposed to open the cave and stop Moth now?

" _Dinner-dinner-dinner,"_ breathed the mass of Kuli-baba, who were now advancing without a doubt.

"What do we do? Find her body?" Puck muttered out of the corner of his mouth. She felt him adjust his stance.

Sabrina looked up. The tree cover was so dense that she wasn't sure they'd be able to fly out of here, let alone search for a grave. The boughs seemed to bend and stretch toward them, as if they too were alive. Claustrophobic panic made Sabrina's stomach roll.

Luckily, Drest kept talking. "The Kuli-baba control the bog now. Kikimora is dead, her son ran in fear, Kuli-baba own the swamp!"

"Kuli-baba! Kuli-baba!" The creatures chanted, drawing so close that Sabrina could make out their swarthy features. She swung her sword in a threatening arc, and they fell back.

"What son?" Sabrina asked, a plan forming in her mind.

Laughter rippled through the woods. "Kiram," Drest murmured, his voice filled with mirth. "Melted into the human world like a common traveler! Resides in the eastern city! Good riddance. The bog is ours!"

" _Bog is ours bog is our bog is ours…"_

"We'll have to find the son," Sabrina muttered to Puck over low roar of the Kuli-baba. "Let's get out of here."

"I can't fly us out," he hissed back. "On three?"

"Do you actually know how to count to three this time?" Sabrina asked, wishing to delay the moment she had to cut anyone down for as long as possible. She barely registered Puck's (correct) countdown, before lunging forward into the mass of Kuli-baba, who promptly turned and ran, screaming for their trees. The forest fell silent, even Drest had disappeared. Sabrina and Puck looked at each other in bewilderment, lulled into a state of false security, when the Kuli-baba suddenly re-emerged, wielding wickedly sharp, short black knives.

Sabrina and Puck drew together, back to back again, and fought. They had the advantage of sword length on their side, and although the sheer number of Kuli-baba was overwhelming, only few could get in close enough to do damage.

Sabrina tried to avoid dealing fatal blows, instead aiming for cuts on the arms, shallow slashes on the ribs. She had nothing against these creatures, wanted only to get past them.

They were dramatic little things. One fell over, wailing, in response to a nick on the arm, and three of its fellows lifted it and dragged it to safety, yelling at her all the while. Both hands gripping her sweaty hilt, Sabrina slashed and parried for what felt like forever, grateful for Puck's back against hers, grateful for a companion in this bizarre situation.

She was unprepared for the moment when three Kuli-baba rushed her, took running leaps and slammed into her body, knocking her against Puck, who stumbled and widened the gap between them. Sabrina struggled to stay standing as she was surrounded by the Kuli-baba, who scratched at her with their short knives. It was impossible to avoid every blade, and Sabrina cried out as she received a knife in the arm, and another stinging scratch across the cheek.

Puck, who had been fighting with more grace and more anger then her, looked up at her sound.

"Sabrina!" he yelled, and began to cut his way through the pack of bodies to her. "Back away! Back away!"

Perhaps it was the fact that their comrades were falling around them like stones, perhaps it was the fact that Puck was royalty and could show it when he wanted to, but the Kuli-baba slowed in hesitation at his tone and then did as they were told, drawing into the shadows once more.

Clutching her arm, Sabrina gasping for breath as stars exploded in her vision.

"We're going to leave, and you're not going to follow us," Puck continued, his regal voice ringing through the trees, green eyes alight with fury.

The Kuli-baba were starting to whisper to each other in suspicious. With high-pitched cackles, they drew forward once more, belatedly sensing weakness, but before they could close the gap, Puck morphed into a centaur, picked up Sabrina, and began to run. They followed, hollering and shouting, but unable to catch up with the angry Fae-turned-horse.

"Half-horse is not a good look for you!" Sabrina shouted over the din of a thousand squeaky voices behind them, trying to hide the pain she was in behind a joke.

He threw her a look that was half-exasperated and half something Sabrina couldn't name, but knew lay somewhere along the lines of anguish. They reached the watery edge of the bog so fast that Puck almost doused them, but he skidded to a halt just in time, set her down, and morphed back into his regular self. Taking Sabrina in his arms again, Puck shot into the eggshell-blue sky, leaving being the hungry Kuli-baba, who spilled onto the shore and hurled curses after them.

"Are you okay?" he asked as they shot across the landscape, panic edging into his voice. "Where else did they get you?"

"My arm," Sabrina breathed, because even talking hurt. "I think it's just a scratch."

From the look in his eyes he didn't believe her. "First Moth, now this! How are you still so prone to attack? I swear, Grimm, if I had a dollar for every heart attack you gave me…"

His voice trailed off and he swallowed hard, revealing an emotion behind the frustration that Sabrina wasn't sure she wanted defined.

They landed almost as soon as they'd crossed to the safety of the other side of the bog.

"Let me see," he said, the green fire dimming in his eyes.

She debated telling him let her do it, but the cut on her arm would be hard to reach. Deciding it was better at this point to go along with him, Sabrina pulled her arm out of the neck of her shirt and held it out to him. She was right, the cut was not deep, but it had drawn a long, a wicked red smile across the skin of her upper arm.

Puck took her arm in his hands, inspecting with a creased brow, and then retrieved the first aid kit. They were silent as he cleaned and bandaged the cut, and then after she'd tucked her arm back into her shirt, he went to work on her cheek, holding her head steady with his other hand.

"You're lucky they didn't get you worse," he said, his voice unfocused as he concentrated on the cut.

Why did her heart have to speed up at the feeling of his fingers on her skin? To take her mind off it, she let her eyes trace his features, taking in the golden stubble on his jaw, the hollowness of his cheeks. She did not often get to look at him without reason, to attempt to solve the mystery that was him growing up. Puck took a shaky breath, drawing her attention back to his eyes, and the cotton swab paused in the air. Sabrina swallowed, aware that he was mere millimeters away.

"I'm glad they didn't get you worse," he continued, his voice quieter than before, and for the second time in a few hours Puck had her frozen, but before she could move away, he was on his feet and cleaning off his hands.

Sabrina stared at the muscles in his back move under his shirt. It was astounding that in the short span of years since she'd last seen him, he'd become a man.

Why was he still growing? She wanted to ask him, but wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

He took a swig of water and handed the bottle to her, which she accepted without thinking. Then, Sabrina looked at it, realizing how weird it was that they were sharing a water bottle, even though they had been for days and she hadn't given it any thought before now.

Giving herself a mental shake, Sabrina drank. _It doesn't matter,_ she chastised herself. _What are you doing?_

She'd moved on six years ago, after all, accepted the alternate future she'd once seen as just that—an alternate future. Going on this trip would cause a lot of her friends and family to talk, to question whether or not they'd return as a couple. She'd known that from the beginning, but she'd also known that she didn't want Puck. _He_ certainly didn't want her.

"We should figure out how we're going to go about this Kikimora's-son business," Puck said, interrupting her train of thought. They'd both been silent for a while now, and Sabrina wondered what he'd been thinking about.

"Drest said the city to the east," Sabrina said after struggling to find her voice. "So we find the city to the east, and then figure out how to call on someone named Kiram."

Puck snorted and rolled his eyes. "What a crazy guy, not wanting to spend eternity with the Kuli-baba."

The thought of a man covered in seaweed existing in harmony with the fuzzy little Kuli-baba, teaching them how to sharpen their knives and lifting them up to reach high shelves, made Sabrina laugh. She voiced her thoughts to Puck, and then he was laughing too, much harder than the joke or the situation deserved. Sabrina knew that the exhaustion and waning adrenaline was making them crazy, and maybe she was laughing partially out of fear, but she couldn't stop.

* * *

Daphne looked up.

"Uncle Jake!" she hissed, reaching across the table to shake his arm. He'd been out cold for about half an hour now, and Daphne had let him sleep at first, too wrapped in the book she was reading to care, but now she'd hit a passage that had shaken her to her core.

"Wha…?" Her uncle mumbled to himself and smacked his lips, lifting his fists to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

"Read. This," Daphne ordered, her heart pounding in her ears.

With a shake, Uncle Jake propped his face up with his hands and squinted at the page.

"Wrong passage," Daphne corrected him, tapping the correct paragraph.

So, he did. Daphne watched as he read it again, and then a third time. "Incredible," he breathed, running his fingers across the dry old parchment. "If Moth gets her hands on this, we are in trouble for sure. I think all of Faerie might be."

Then he looked up at her, his eyes rimmed with tiredness but sharp, and seemed to notice the way Daphne was sitting on the edge of her seat as if she was about to take flight.

"What does it do?" she hissed.

His eyes flicked to the table next to them, where an elderly couple was reading as if he was afraid they would overhear. Leaning across their table, he explained in a low voice, "Kladenets, the self-swinging sword, is a formidable weapon. It has a mind of its own…it augments the wielder's strengths, but also their weaknesses. Almost impossible to beat the man, or woman, who holds Kladenets."

"And that's what's locked way in the Lost Cave?" Daphne clarified, reeling

He leaned back in his seat, chewing on his thumbnail. Then he rapped the table with his knuckles. "According to this book, yes. I didn't believe it existed. But if it's really what the Lost Cave holds, then, well, we need to beat Moth to it. No question about that one."

Daphne pictured Moth standing over Sabrina, holding a sword with an angry face on it, and felt her chest grow cold.

When it was clear she wasn't going to answer him, Uncle Jake shrugged and took a sip of the cheap coffee he'd bought, grimacing at the taste. "Nothing much we can do for now though, not until Puck and Sabrina get the seaweed. Which reminds me, I found Kiram's phone number."

Puck had called them via the watch and filled them in on the bog incident, asking them to search the Buyan library for any information on Kiram. Daphne had thought it was a long shot, but Uncle Jake insisted that the library held any information on Everafters that they could possibly need. So, he'd taken over that part of the search, while Daphne had combed old documents for mentions of the Lost Cave.

Daphne let out a sharp sigh. "You found an important phone number and then fell asleep on it?"

Uncle Jake thought about this, and then pointed a finger at her and replied, "Yes, that's correct."

Daphne snorted and pulled the book over to her. There he was, _Kiram_ written in tidy letters, no last name. A phone number followed.

"What is this, some Everafter phone book?" she asked, slightly awed as she read the short blurb under his name that identified him as an artifact collector.

"Sort of," her uncle replied. "I've heard it has information on every Everafter that is living, and that it updates by itself. Pretty incredible. The only copy in the known world."

She pushed the book back. "Well, get it to them," she told him. "I've got more searching to do. I need to learn the history of Kladenets." She shuddered, as if the word itself held power.

* * *

Sabrina sighed, tapping her foot impatiently. She stared at the near-empty soda in front of her, determined not to finish what had to be her third glass. Apparently, she drank when she was bored. They'd been sitting at the bar for what felt like ages, waiting. Kiram had been receptive to their call, in which they'd posed as a couple of collectors interested in Kikimora's seaweed, and set up a meeting with him.

He was running late to the point of rudeness, and Sabrina could tell that the bartender couldn't understand why they kept ordering nonalcoholic drinks. She was glancing toward the door too often, anxious to get this show on the road so they could get out of such a crowded restaurant.

The door opened, and a guy around their age entered, stomping his boots. Sabrina jumped, sat up straight and turned to Puck, trying to act natural. Kiram had given Puck a description of his features while they'd been on the phone.

"That's not him," Puck laughed, a soft smile on his face that evaporated when he looked past her.

"What?" Sabrina asked.

"That one's him," he hissed in response. " _Sabrina don't turn around like that!"_

Wincing, Sabrina gripped the edges of her chair, determined to act natural.

"Take a breath, Grimm. Let me go make sure it really is him," Puck said, still grinning as he got out of his chair. Brushing her shoulder, he added, "Wait for my signal."

"How am I supposed to see your signal if I'm not allowed to turn… _Puck,_ " Sabrina hissed after him, but he was already out of earshot in the loud restaurant. Rolling her eyes, Sabrina drained her soda.

A girl around her age slid into the seat next to her. Sabrina recognized her; she'd been sitting a few seats away for a while now.

"Hi," she began. "My name's Maria." Her hair and skin were as white as snow, as if she was in permanent shock.

Sabrina fought the urge to frown at her and smiled instead. She responded with the cover name she always used and listened to the words roll off her tongue, aware she was speaking Russian thanks to Puck's potion.

"I'm Holly, it's nice to meet you. Can I help you with something?"

Maria's olive-green eyes narrowed. In a low whisper, she replied, "Sabrina, I am a Valkyrie."

Sabrina let the frown come, trying to assess whether or not she needed to knock this girl out. "Excuse me?"

"I watched over you in the Everafter war," Maria explained, resting her pale hand on Sabrina's forearm. The intensity of her gaze made Sabrina want to look away. She knew Valkyries were the ones who decided who lived and died in battle, according to Norse mythology, but why would one be interested in her right now? This restaurant was not exactly a battlefield.

"I'm here because your life is in great danger," the girl whispered, pressing her thin lips together. Her eyes seemed to reflect centuries of turmoil.

This was not exactly news to Sabrina, but hearing it from someone else made her mouth go dry. Sabrina murmured, "Why are you telling me this?"

The Valkyrie steeled herself and then replied, "I am an Everafter as much as you are, Sabrina. I'm aware of what you did for our kind. For that, you deserve a long life. Not the battle that is to come."

"Keep your voice down," Sabrina warned, chills racing up and down her spine.

Maria ignored her. "I'll be watching for you. But know this—I see three paths in your immediate future. Save yourself, be saved, or die. Keep that one close. You fight well together. Maybe well enough to prevent what I see."

Sabrina knew without having to look that the Valkyrie was looking at Puck over her shoulder.

"This is about Moth having it out for me, isn't it?" Sabrina pressed, leaning toward Maria, fearing somehow that she would evaporate before giving a clear answer.

Maria gave a humorless laugh. "Moth's vendetta against you? I'm not sure you realize how big this is. Who do you _think_ killed Kikimora?"

Sabrina jumped. She hadn't thought of that, had assumed that the Kuli-baba were to blame.

"Better go ask her son," Maria breathed. Sabrina's head snapped toward Puck and Kiram, and when she looked back, Maria was gone.

Sabrina gasped. Shaking her head, she rose and headed over to the table.

"What took you so long?" Puck asked, a fake smile pasted to his face as she took a seat.

Sabrina gave him a pointed look. "Just catching up with an old friend."

She introduced herself to Kiram. He looked incredibly human for someone whose mother wandered the bogs draped in seaweed, and his dark, curly hair reminded her of the Bog Hag.

"Kiram was just proposing a trade," Puck explained, sipping his drink. "In exchange for three strands of seaweed, we collect some Water Toadie Eggs."

He grinned wickedly at her, and Sabrina was sure that they were both remembering the time he'd slipped some into her oatmeal. Although there was nothing she wanted to do more than scowl at him, she maintained a neutral expression in front of Kiram.

"Where do we get them?"

"The only place I know of is in New York," Puck replied, and then to Kiram, added, "We should only need a day or two."

Kiram rubbed his hands together, a gesture that reminded Sabrina forcefully of Drest, and then reached out to shake on it. "A dozen or so should be fine. Call me when you're back in town."

He shook Sabrina's hand as well. Remembering what the Valkyrie had said, Sabrina put in, "I'm very sorry to hear about your mother."

Kiram's face tightened. "As am I. Thank you."

"How did she die? If you don't mind me asking."

The man's expression darkened. "A fairy killed her."

Puck choked on a sip of soda and started coughing.

"Are you all right, sir?" Kiram asked, frowning.

Puck waved an airy hand. "Yes, yes, sorry. But fairies, ugh. What an awful group." He shot Sabrina a look behind his glass, as if he was worried she would blow his cover, but she was too busy trying to piece together this new mystery. Why would Moth kill Kikimora?

Oblivious to the exchange, Kiram sighed. "I know. She didn't do anything to deserve it, either. Well, it was nice to meet you both. I'll hear from you soon, I trust."

And then he was gone, melting into the crowd of humans. As soon as he was gone, Puck complained, "Why didn't you look for my signal? And why do you look like you just saw a ghost?"

In a hushed voice, Sabrina explained about the Valkyrie.

First, Puck rolled his eyes. "Save or be saved. Well, I think we both know which one of those things are going to happen. Don't worry, Stinkpot, I won't let you die."

Sabrina huffed, her cheeks red. "Why do I tell you anything?"

* * *

After a brief check-in with Jake and Daphne, they decided to sleep before teleporting to New York and searching for the Toadie Eggs, since it was already late afternoon.

Figuring that if a Valkyrie could pinpoint them in a city, Moth could too, they chose the tent over a hotel. They teleported to a nature preserve that allowed camping and pitched their tent close to a few others in hopes of blending in. Even though it was only around five o'clock in the afternoon, the harsh December sun was setting in the distance. It wasn't snowy here, which Sabrina was grateful for, although the temperature was dropping as rapidly as the sun.

"Do we have to do watches?" Puck whined, plopping down on the ground once they were settled. "I'm pretty sure we both have caffeine instead of blood running through our veins, since we walked instead of slept last night."

With this comment, he shot Sabrina a dirty look, as if he had not been included in the decision to walk.

Sabrina rolled her eyes, wanting to argue with him but persuaded by the pounding in her temples. "I guess not."

Puck watched her shake out her sleeping bag and then, with much more grumbling and moaning, set up his own next to her.

"Don't look," Sabrina ordered, reaching into her bag for a fresh pair of clothes. Although the last thing she wanted to do was change in front of Puck, her shirt was bloodstained and had a gaping hole in the arm. Imagining all the things she would have given at that moment for a hot shower and a real bed, Sabrina changed quickly and slid into her sleeping bag.

They lay in silence, watching the tent's insides turn to darkness last rays of sunlight slip away.

"Why didn't you just kiss me?" Puck asked out of nowhere. His voice made her jump.

Staring at the pole at the top of the tent, Sabrina replied, "I could tell he was trying to distract us. And if we had kissed, we probably would've been ambushed." She'd prepared this answer, had been expecting this question all day.

Puck snorted and propped himself up on one elbow. "That is such a lie. I saw your expression. You didn't know he was lying. You were scared!"

Sabrina glared up at him, knowing he could see her expression even in the dark, with his superior vision and all. "No I wasn't!"

"It's nothing we haven't done before," he continued as if she hadn't spoken. His eyes were black in the dark, and she could tell he was looking at her. "Theoretically then, if Kikimora was still alive, we could've avoided this little detour to America."

"Well, that's not what happened, so it doesn't matter," Sabrina snapped, her face hot. "For the record, if you _had_ kissed me, it wouldn't've been a big deal."

She heard him lay back down but did not look. They were awfully close, their sleeping bags overlapping slightly in the close quarters of the tent.

"Whatever you say," Puck said, laughter in his voice, as if he enjoyed having the power to make her nervous. Sabrina made an angry noise in her throat and closed her eyes, willing herself to go to sleep so this day could end.

She snapped awake with a gasp some time later, jolted out of the same terrible dream that had somehow been augmented after the Nightingale's whistle, and lay on her back, breathing hard. Not wanting to wake Puck, she turned on her side facing away from him, suddenly very aware of how close they were.

Sleep was hard to come by this time around. Her head was pounding again, and adrenaline raced through her veins. Innocent night rustlings of animals, bird calls, and strange noises Puck made in his throat all put her farther on edge. She tossed and turned on the cold, hard ground, sat up, put her hair in a ponytail, flipped the pillow over to the cold side, took the ponytail down. To add to the discomfort, they'd forgotten to turn on the space heater, and Sabrina couldn't stop shivering.

Groaning, Sabrina closed her eyes, the shivering intensifying.

Puck jerked awake next to her. She heard his sleeping bag rustle, and then one of his arms flopped around her. Sabrina went rigid as Puck adjusted, pulling his arm back towards his body and taking her with it so that they were pressed together, back to stomach, with two layers of sleeping bag between them.

One slow exhale, and Puck was asleep again.

"Are you awake?" Sabrina whispered anyway, somehow hoping he would be, but she could tell that he had been asleep for the entire event.

The soft tickle of his breath on her neck was making her dizzy. For a moment, Sabrina couldn't think.

What was she supposed to do? At a loss, Sabrina squirmed away from him so they weren't as close. She wanted to move his arm but wasn't sure she would be able to, as it was curled so securely around her that his wrist was pressing the inside of her sleeping bag against the ground. Any sudden movement would surely wake him up, and the last thing she wanted to do was that, because there was no way this had happened on purpose. Premature embarrassment made her cringe.

There was no way she would be able to sleep in this position. It was too awkward. At least her shivering was going away.

Somehow, Sabrina's back was pressed against Puck's chest again. She could feel his heartbeat. Grateful for the sleeping bags between them, Sabrina lifted her head and craned her neck to look around the tent for a reason to jump up, wishing desperately to heard boots outside the tent again, but the world was quiet.

Dropping her head on her pillow in defeat, Sabrina scowled. Maybe she could get him to roll over. Reaching behind her, she poked him in the ribs.

Nothing happened. She gave him a few more fruitless prods before accepting defeat. Perhaps he would roll over in a few minutes and that would be the end of it. She could wait this out for a few minutes before taking more drastic measures.

Sabrina's eyelids were growing heavy, but she told herself she wouldn't fall asleep like this, that falling asleep like this was a bad idea. Reaching down, she pinched her thigh hard to wake herself up. Good. This was fine. She'd survived worse.

Sabrina fell asleep against her will, lulled by the warmth of Puck's body and the steady rise and fall of his chest.


	6. Ariel

In the light of the rising sun, Sabrina was drowsy and comfortable, unwilling to open her eyes and rejoin the world of the waking. It had been ages since she'd slept so soundly. She lay on her side, wrapped in warmth, debating going back to sleep for a while.

Something was coming back to her…what did she need to remember?

 _Oh, right._ The nightmare. Puck. Her stomach dropping as she remembered how _that_ series of events had ended, Sabrina opened her eyes and felt them widen. She must have rolled over at some point in the night, because she was now face-to-face with the Trickster King, so completely that their noses were practically touching. He held her still, one arm wrapped around her waist, his forearm tilting up so his fingertips brushed her shoulder blade.

Sabrina did not have time to force her mind away from the feeling of his body and toward something productive before he stirred, his arm tightening briefly as he awoke. In a flurry of motion, he gave her a look that could have meant she'd grown a third eye in her sleep, jerked his head back to appraise the situation, and then sat up, edging away from her.

"What was that about?" he bleated, rubbing his eyes.

"Excuse me?" Sabrina asked, her face lighting on fire as she rolled out of her tangled sleeping bag and got to her feet. " _Your_ arm."

Puck made a strangled noise in his throat as if he was trying and failing to think of a secure argument to that point, and kicked his way out of his own sleeping bag.

Sabrina and Puck stood on opposite ends of the tent, wishing they could be farther apart, looking anywhere aside from each other.

A faint, tinny crackling noise from the watch made them both jump.

"Guys?"

"Uncle Jake!" Sabrina cried, eternally grateful for the distraction.

Avoiding eye contact with Puck, she stared only at the ugly watch, trying to focus on figuring out where _exactly_ the voice was coming from within its gears.

"What are your plans for today?"

Puck explained to the sleeping bags that they had to go back to New York and search for Water Toadie Eggs for Kiram.

"Okay, okay, perfect. We've got two caves left to check, so if you think you can accomplish all that by the end of today, then we can open the cave tonight. We figured out what was in it, but I don't want to say what it is through the watch, since I'm not sure how secure it is." Uncle Jake said this all like he was slightly out of breath, as if he was running.

"Is everything okay?" Sabrina asked, detangling her hair with her fingers. "Where's Daphne?"

"Right here," her sister's tinny voice replied. "We are lightly jogging."

"Lightly—what? Why?"

"Lightly jogging. It's faster than walking, but less strenuous than running," Uncle Jake replied matter-of-factly.

"Not just regular jogging? Lightly jogging, specifically?" Puck pressed, raising his eyebrows.

"Lightly jogging!" Came Daphne's breathless, cheerful reply.

If she wasn't reeling from the awkward way she'd fallen asleep and woken up, Sabrina would've laughed. Instead she blinked, processing this odd piece of information. "Well, all right. See you tonight, probably."

"Over and out!" Uncle Jake said after sucking in a large breath.

Puck's eyes flicked to Sabrina for the first time as he replied, "Over and out."

She realized with a jolt that she'd been staring at him after all.

"To New York?" she asked bracingly, eager to avoid falling back into the rut of awkwardness that Uncle Jake had unknowingly pulled them out of.

"You got it," he replied, and within minutes they'd packed up, programmed the teleporter, and were folding in on themselves, over and over.

Sabrina let out a sharp gasp. The teleporter left her hand as Puck took it to put it away, and she was left blinking in shock as _darkness_ pressed on her eyeballs.

"It's nighttime!" she hissed, holding her hand up in front of her face. She felt like she was moving her arm through liquid blackness which was so thick and oozing that it made it impossible to see her fingers.

"Wow, Grimm! Slow clap. Nice observation," Puck shot back, a bodiless voice beside her.

Sabrina did some quick calculations in her head. "Oh, damn. The area of Russia we were in is twelve hours ahead of New England. It's yesterday again. I forgot about that."

She reached her arms out to both sides, feeling rough bark in some places, the evidence of trees. As her eyes adjusted, she could just make out their dim outlines. Overhead, stars blinked into existence, a few at a time.

"Yesterday again!" Puck exclaimed, and then felt silent. Sabrina imagined the gears in his head working until he'd figured out what she meant and nodded.

She heard him start walking, and groaned. "Puck, I can't see anything."

And then, light, as a cloud covering the moon drifted away. Sabrina let out a breath, letting it wash over her as her eyes adjusted. They were about halfway up a mountain, standing on the one flat strip of ground that Sabrina could see. Above and below them, the mountain stretched itself upwards and downwards at such sharp angles that Sabrina was surprised the slim tree trunks could grow vertically. The mountain dropped into a pool of shadows hundreds of feet below them, and extended into a wide valley.

Puck was watching her, probably analyzing her ability to see. "Let me know when you've scraped your jaw off the ground."

Sabrina shut her mouth and glared at him. "All right, Stinkface, what's the plan?"

"We've gotta go up," Puck replied, turning and scanning the higher part of the mountain. "I'm sure I'll be able to find the overlook in the dark, and then I can locate the pond. Come on."

He began to hike upwards, moving with all of the grace and endurance that living in the woods had given him.

Grumbling, Sabrina followed, grabbing tree trunks for support as she went. The moon was full and round, bright enough that she could see without a light now that her eyes had adjusted, although it made their surroundings manifest into odd shadows. At first, the climb was almost vertical, and she kept slipping on the carpet of dead leaves beneath them. But then the mountain relaxed to a steep hill, and Puck and Sabrina could hike side-by-side. She could tell that he kept glancing at her, which Sabrina thought was sort of odd. Part of her wished she had a reason to say something, but she couldn't think of anything to talk about other than to ask him what had happened in the tent, which was out of the question. It wasn't even like she could bring up the weather, because after the tundra, the late-December air felt practically balmy. So they walked in silence, Sabrina lost in thought, oscillating between believing it was nothing and believing it was _something_.

"Here we are," Puck murmured after what felt like an hour. "I'll need a minute to find the pond in the darkness.

"Whoa," Sabrina whispered without meaning to. He'd led her to an overlook, the edge of a cliff that dropped straight down into the valley mere feet away from where they were standing. They were looking down on a thick sea of trees, which was not a new feeling after all the flying, but different because they were rooted to the earth as well. Sabrina would have felt like a giant, except that this view allowed her to see more sky than usual, inky blue, dotted with stars and streaked with Milky Way.

Unable to speak, Sabrina took it all in, marveling at how easy it was, suddenly, to believe the planet was round as the sky curved to meet the horizon, at how many stars were truly up there, at the sheer size of everything that was enough to make her feel small. All of the time she spent in Ferryport Landing and Faerie couldn't change that she was a city girl in her bones. This was unfamiliar territory.

Puck's territory.

A frigid wind caressed their skin. Below, the trees breathed and swayed. She allowed herself to really look at him for the first time since they'd woken up. His head snapped away as hers turned—what was wrong with him? Looking at her constantly? She was not a pond, it wouldn't do him any good to look at her.

Despite her snarky thoughts, her gaze was again caught, on him this time. She knew that staring at him in this way wouldn't do her any good, either, but she couldn't help herself. He looked like a minor god in the light of the luminous moon, all of the color drained from his features as he scanned the landscape. The tips of his ears were gray, his lips a deeper silver. All of the green had gone from his eyes when he turned back to her.

 _Beautiful._

She could not stop looking at his lips.

"What?" he asked, raising a colorless eyebrow.

For several years, Sabrina would wonder what might have come out of her mouth, if not for the lone, eerie howl that rose and wound its way through the valley of trees below them. It was enough to startle Sabrina back to sanity, to remember the walls.

"What was that?" she hissed, groping for her sword before remembering it was in the bottomless knapsack. "Please, tell me there are no Everafters that sound like coyotes."

Puck spun in a slow circle, scanning the shadows behind them. "Uh, you're the Grimm. You're the one who's supposed to know stuff like that!"

"Yeah, but you've been an Everafter for like, four thousand years longer than me. Although I guess you probably can't fit that much information into your tiny brain," Sabrina snapped as the howl was returned by creatures in nearly every direction, from the mountain and the valley. It was a noise that made her blood run cold. She forced herself to turn away from the overlook and squint at the forest behind them. "But given the way things have been going, I'd say that the odds we're listening to just normal coyotes are low. Can you see the pond in the dark? I don't want to hang out in the woods waiting for sunrise, and waiting for something to find us."

Puck bristled. "We would be fine if something found us, Grimm."

Sabrina rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly. "Answer the question, Stinkpot."

He poked her side in return, making her jump, and then pointed out to their left. "See the glimmer?"

Sabrina scanned the area he was pointing toward and did see a faint spark of white moonlight on a changing surface. Before she could tell him, a loud snarl from behind them made her cry out and whirl around, again reaching for a hilt that wasn't there.

"Water!" Puck sang, grabbed her around the waist, and threw them both off the cliff. After a dizzying drop that left Sabrina gasping for breath, Puck extended his wings and caught the wind. They flew low, almost skimming the bare tree tops. Sometimes Sabrina thought she saw creatures running below them, and the noise of barking and yipping would grow louder and then quiet.

"What if werewolves are real?" Puck asked conversationally as they drew nearer to the pond.

Every hair on Sabrina's arms stood up straight. "Werewolves aren't real. Otherwise the Big Bad Wolf wouldn't be such a phenomenon."

She said it to convince herself as much as him. Puck's face scrunched in thought. "That sounds right to me."

But her uneasiness was mirrored on his face as he began to dive for the ground and then stopped.

"See anything below us?" he asked. They hung like a bizarre ornament in the sky for a minute as they both scanned the ground for furry bodies, but nothing dangerous was in view.

"No," Sabrina squeaked, distrusting her eyes.

"Great," Puck replied, his voice unnaturally high, and lowered them to the edge of the pond.

The actual process of collecting the eggs was rather simple. Puck dug around in the bag for a while and pulled out a pink butterfly net ("Prepared for anything, me and Jake," he'd bragged, puffing out his chest until Sabrina had remarked on the girliness of his net and he'd fallen silent) and then flew in slow circles above the water's surface, looking for the submerged logs that the Water Toadies laid their eggs on.

In her opinion, Sabrina's job was harder. She stood at the bank, trying to look at every inch of woods around them at once. The pond was vast enough that the other side was a black blur. Trying to focus on the occasional splash of the net instead of this new fear of werewolves, Sabrina paced the bank.

She was so intent on the forest that when a wet hand reached out of the water and snatched her ankle, she toppled into the pond like a stone.

* * *

Daphne knelt in the snow, her fingers trembling with cold as she inserted the small syringe into the vial of Yeti blood and drew two milliliters up. The blood was thick like syrup and smelled like dirty metal. Resisting the urge to gag, Daphne got to her feet and pushed the stopper on the syringe, squirting the blood onto the rock face in front of her.

If she'd been an innocent traveler, a random person who lived a nice, normal, life and probably owned several dogs, this rock face would not have stuck out to her. Every other unassuming cliff that Vanessa had marked for them wouldn't have seemed special to Daphne except for those red circles, but this was different. When they'd approached this sheer rock face that shot two hundred feet in the sky, she'd felt _it._ The pressure at the base of her spine, the indicator of ancient, powerful magic that you could only feel if you were part of a coven or something similar.

Daphne had only felt the pressure twice before, once during the Everafter War, and once in Faerie, when Titania had brought her and her mother to an vault filled with old artifacts from the old homeland of the Fair Folk.

So she watched, unsurprised, as the blood glowed green and then was absorbed into the rock. Although excitement bubbled up inside her, she arranged her face to look nonchalant. Turning to her uncle, who'd been watching her back, she waggled the vial and announced, "Half empty."

It was their code word for _found it! We found it!_ There was every chance Moth was spying on them, even though they couldn't see her, and the last thing they wanted was for her to know they'd found the entrance. Knowing what Moth had done—and wanted to do—to Sabrina made Daphne so angry that she hoped for her sake that she didn't show herself.

Her uncle's eyes lit up and then relaxed. "Okay, one more."

They walked away. A half a mile away from the cliff, a forest of clustered pine trees began. After weaving their way through tree trunks, they reached the old road they would take back to the nearest town. From there, they would travel by train to the site of the last cave. Both Uncle Jake and Daphne had agreed before they'd left Buyan that it was important to check the final cave as well, because if the blood worked on that one too, then they would have a problem. Plus, carrying on would throw Moth off their scent. They weren't sure if she knew the real location of the cave or not, but they certainly didn't want her to think they did.

Then, they would stall until Puck and Sabrina teleported to them. They'd move to the real site of the cave as fast as possible, and hopefully get in and out before Moth caught up to them. When Daphne had pointed out that maybe Moth wasn't following them, and they should monitor the cave in case she tried to open it herself, Uncle Jake had argued that the odds of her being able to subdue a Yeti without help were low. There was a higher chance she was trying to use them to open the cave to get what she wanted, which meant they had to keep moving and constantly shake her off.

Daphne had little faith that things would go as smoothly as they hoped. She was certain this trip was giving her gray hair. She'd spent about half of it consumed with worry that Moth was simply waiting for the right moment to ambush and destroy Puck and Sabrina, and the other half of it looking over her shoulder for the crazed fairy.

When they boarded the train a few hours later, Daphne chewed her thumbnail and stared out the window at the barren landscape around them, wishing for warmth and green leaves.

"Are you okay?" Her uncle asked, looking up from the newspaper he'd been pretending to read.

Daphne's eyes flicked to the paper. "You're reading that upside down. And yes, but I'm worried that M—that my sister is going to get hurt."

 _No names,_ her uncle had warned her earlier. _You don't know if she's listening._

Uncle Jake bit his lip, flipping the newspaper. "Robin wouldn't let that happen," he assured her, frowning. When Daphne's expression didn't change, he added, "You know what I mean. He would die himself before anything happened to her. And you know how hard he is to kill."

Daphne sat back hard against the plastic seat, unappeased. "I'm going to the bathroom," she announced, feeling the urge to walk, and jumped up. She brushed the rows of seats as she headed toward the back of the car. It wasn't until she was halfway down the aisle when something swept by the window outside the train, making her halt and look out.

Daphne squinted. It had been something large…something human.

Or not.

Daphne swore, dropping into a crouch as the thing flew by the window on the other side of the train. Moth. There was no way it wasn't Moth. How was she moving quickly enough to keep up with the train? Praying that her uncle had been properly concealed behind the newspaper, Daphne crawled back to their seats, ignoring the strange looks the other passengers were giving her.

Uncle Jake dropped her newspaper when he saw her. "What are you doing?" he hissed, casting a furtive look around.

"We've got company!" Daphne announced from the floor, pulling him down. A loud, metallic thud on the roof of the tent drew their attention.

"Oh, dear God," her uncle muttered, understanding what he meant. "She must know we're in here."

"What do we do?" Daphne whimpered, looking around for an escape route. Both ends of the train car had doors, but the noise had come from the middle of the car, and there was no telling which side Moth would choose to come in by.

Uncle Jake was fumbling with the pockets of his overcoat, which lay on the seat above them, his face slightly green. His lips mouthed soundlessly, as if he was praying, and as the car door farther to them flew open, he edged toward the aisle, waiting.

Daphne felt like she was about to throw up. She struggled to control her ragged breathing, terrified for her life and her uncle's as she watched Moth's boots move down aisle, stopping at every seat to examine the passengers. A few people down the car cried out in alarmed Russian as she went by. Moth spat back at them in a similar language, her voice oddly guttural, and they calmed down, which made Daphne's skin crawl.

Once the fairy was within three rows of them, Uncle Jake jumped to his feet and blew. A loud gunshot made Daphne's insides rip into pieces. She screamed her uncle's name and jumped up, gripping the back of the seat for support as she absorbed the scene in front of her.

Uncle Jake, looking very pale but alive, clutching his arm. Three feet away, a very dazed and confused looking man with pink grains of Forgetful Dust in his hair, whose gun dangled from his fingers. The other passengers in the car, screaming. One of them pulled a lever, and the train began to screech to a halt, throwing the three of them to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Daphne cried, tears streaming down her face as she crawled to her uncle.

"I'm fine. The bullet just grazed me," Uncle Jake grunted, staring at his bloodied arm. He then carried on in a tone that was horribly conversational, as if he was delirious from pain. "What I really want to know is, who just shot me? I blew Forgetful Dust at him, thinking it was Moth, of course."

His eyes, narrowed in suspicion, moved to the other man, who was sitting in the aisle with his back to them, slumped, but Daphne could not take her gaze off the dark rivers of blood that ran through his white fingers and down his arm.

"Uncle Jake," she whimpered, reaching out with a trembling hand. "Do you have any sort of salve that will heal your arm? We need to get out of here before the police turn up."

"Daphne," her uncle grunted, his eyes dull. He looked like an upended turtle, incapable of sitting up completely. "Daphne, before the Dust wears off. Grab his gun."

Gulping air, Daphne did as she was told, snatching the thing that had hurt her uncle from their attacker's side. She flicked on the safety but did not let it go, instead leveling it with the other man's head. In her gut Daphne knew she could never shoot, but perhaps the threat would be enough. With her other hand, Daphne groped for her wand.

"Gimme some ropes," she choked, and ropes shot out of the wand and wrapped themselves around the man, who continued to sit with his back to them as if he could not care less about their presence.

The train finally stopped moving, and Daphne knew that there were employees moving toward their car already, ready to Solve The Problem, who had no idea what they were actually walking into. It was time to be the Sabrina of the situation. Daphne had to move fast. She put down the gun and the wand and fumbled through the pockets of her uncle's overcoat, turning over vials and jars in her hands, frantically deciphering the spindly and cracked handwriting on the labels.

"There. That one. I drink it," her uncle croaked, his eyes half open, nodding at the thing she held in her hands. He was now the color of day-old oatmeal, and was lying flat on his back. Terrified to think about how much blood he'd lost, Daphne uncorked the vial and propped up her uncle's head so he could drink. Some of it dribbled out of his mouth, but he swallowed loudly and then flopped back down, groaning. "Give it a…minute."

And then his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out. The door burst open, and three burly men spilled into the car. The one in the front took one look at her uncle and blanched. His eyes moved to the bound stranger, and then to Daphne, kneeling on the floor surrounded by bottles, and then to the rest of the passengers, some of whom were beginning to draw closer to see the action.

He barked something at her. Daphne blinked. "English," she replied, pointing to her mouth.

The man seemed to understand. Dropping to his knees, he placed two fingers on Uncle Jake's neck, his brow knit in concern. His face relaxed and said something to his colleagues that Daphne guessed had to do with her uncle still being alive.

Daphne's brain was working overtime. She needed this well-meaning employees gone, so that she could deal with her uncle and question their attacker, but between the language barrier and the fact that she was a scared girl who had clearly been crying, she could tell it would be difficult to convince them to not call the police and whatever Russia's equivalent of 911 was.

In the same moment, Uncle Jake sat up with an audible gasp, and the attacker began to struggle against his bonds, twisting so that he was facing them. The man who'd felt for Uncle Jake's pulse jumped up with a yell of alarm.

Uncle Jake blinked blearily, absorbing the situation they were in. Overwhelmed, Daphne flung her arms around his neck, and he gripped her with his good arm. Over her shoulder, he addressed the men in broken Russian. They argued back and forth for a bit, and then the employee in charge threw up his hands in defeat.

Uncle Jake turned to the bound man. "Who are you, and how did you find us?" he demanded, keeping a protective arm around Daphne's shoulders.

Their attacker had cold, slanting black eyes that were slightly unfocused because of the Forgetful Dust.

"Ariel," he said flatly. "I'm here to kill the King and Queen of Faerie. You are their companions."

And then comprehension returned to his eyes, and he flashed them a feral smile. "Moth sends her love. She says it's a pity we couldn't just slit your throats quietly. You may not be the ones I came here to destroy, but you'll all be dead soon, anyways. Give me back my gun, and I can make it short and painless right now."

Her uncle's free hand twitched toward the gun, as if he longed to pick it up and return the shot he'd received. Ariel sighed, allowing his shoulders to sag although his face did not relax. Clenching his fists, he began to tremble, until the ropes that Daphne had conjured burst, freeing him. He jumped to his feet and assumed a fighting stance, his wiry frame ready to lunge at Uncle Jake to finish off the job.

But Daphne's yell, coupled with the yells of the employees, made him freeze. She had risen as well, and pointed the wand squarely at his chest, giving in to the belated rage that was bubbling up inside her. "One step, and I finish you!"

Her mind was racing. What sort of command did you say in this case? Gimme some unconsciousness? Gimme some attack?

Ariel's soulless eyes flicked from Daphne, to the wand, to her uncle. He cocked his head in an unnatural fashion, like it had snapped from one position to the other without moving fluidly between them. Raising his arms, he sprouted wings and he made a motion as if he was going to do a backflip, instead zipping upside-down through the aisle and blowing the door off its hinges as he escaped.

In two steps, Daphne crossed to the window and watch him shoot into the sky, until he was a speck of dirt against the blue. Feeling weak from the emotional roller coaster she'd just embarked on, she watched her uncle speaking to the stunned employees.

A bucketful of Forgetful Dust and some fancy wandwork on the door Ariel had ruined later, the train was moving again. They'd moved to sit in a different car. Uncle Jake had found some chocolate in one of his pockets and given it to Daphne. He'd also given her the overcoat itself to wear when it was clear she couldn't stop shaking.

Daphne felt okay, for the most part. Relief that they were both fine was slowly neutralizing the paralyzing fear, terror, and anguish she'd previously been consumed by. For the most part, she was bubbling over with questions, and struggled to pick one to start with.

"Why didn't the Forgetful Dust work?" Daphne asked finally, breaking off another small piece of chocolate and staring at it. They'd given up trying to be secret, confident that Ariel and Moth were both far away. "Is it a fairy thing? Also, is it a fairy thing to have crazy strength that'll let you blow doors off of trains?"

"I can't begin to guess about his strength." Uncle Jake grimaced and bit into a granola bar. "But, about the Forgetful Dust, seeing as he shot at me, it could just be that most of it missed him. It just dazed him enough that he lost control of what he was saying, instead of working properly."

"Who is he? He said his name was Ariel," Daphne whispered, leaning against the window. Then she sat up straight, remembering, chilled. "There was a fairy named Ariel in _The Tempest_ , he was imprisoned for twelve years by an evil witch and then forced to serve under the guy who eventually freed him. Shakespeare wrote about both him and Moth, if that means anything"

Uncle Jake stopped mid-chew, his eyes widening. "Was Ariel linked to Faerie in any way?"

Daphne shrugged. "If he wasn't then, I'm sure he is now. But if he is…what is he doing all the way over here?"

They stared at each other, slowly fitting the pieces of the puzzle together. "They must both want Kladenets. I'm not sure why Ariel would want to side with Moth, though, since he seems powerful enough to work alone," her uncle said, his lips barely moving. "I was thinking last night, trying to figure out why Moth wants the sword. You know what I came up with?"

"What?" Daphne breathed, afraid of his answer.

"I think she wants to take back the crown she thinks Sabrina stole from her," her uncle whispered, so quietly that Daphne had to lean in to hear him. "I thought it was a crazy theory, because there's no way she could still love Puck after what happened, but I figured I'd mention it."

Daphne's stomach dropped as she recalled what Ariel had said. Chills raced up her spine and down her arms.  
"She wants to be Queen," Daphne realized, wrapping the overcoat more tightly around herself. "And I bet you that Ariel wants to be King. That's why he's helping Moth."

Worry carved lines into her uncle's forehead. "Oh, no."

Bile rose in Daphne's throat, and the shaking, which had finally subsided, came back with a vengeance. "He wasn't bluffing, Uncle Jake. If what they really want is to rule Faerie, then they really are going to try to kill Puck and Sabrina. And the entire court. And probably our entire family. And anyone else who might stand in their way. And if they do get their hands on Kladenets before us, they'll be really hard to stop."

Uncle Jake pushed a hand through his hair, staring off in the distance. "We shouldn't have split up. I had no idea…I didn't know. Oh man, we've got to make finding Puck and Sabrina a priority, get back with them before we check the last cave."

She rested a hand on his arm. "We will. They can take care of themselves for now. Until Kladenets falls into someone's hands."

His head snapped towards her. "We can't tell them."

" _What_?"

"Daphne, think about it. They'd both freak out at the idea that Moth and Ariel just assumed Sabrina would be Puck's Queen, deny, not take this seriously. I know that sounds stupid, but you know that they would be stupid enough to let something like that get in the way of fixing this problem."

Daphne pulled on her fishtail braid until her scalp hurt. "You're right. Oh, dear. We just have to act natural around them. As cheerful as possible."

Uncle Jake was nodding, although clearly still in shock. "I don't even want to think about what would have happened if we hadn't randomly decided to track down the Lost Cave when we did."

 _It's a pity we couldn't just slit your throats quietly._ Ariel's words rang in her ears. What would have happened if they'd showed up at Faerie, or her house, in the dead of night in the middle of winter break? She shrank into the corner of the seat, overwhelmed at this situation that was both terrible and incredibly fortunate all at once.

"Thank God," she whispered, finally popping the piece of chocolate that had been melting on her fingers into her mouth.

* * *

 _So this was drowning._ Sabrina flailed her arms, struggling to swim towards the surface of the lake as the knobby hand pulled her deeper and deeper. The coldness of the water was numbing her skin, and her lungs burned as her desperate movements slowed. Stars swam around her. She bit the insides of her mouth to stop herself from opening it to take a breath. Where was Puck?

Something shot past her from above, moving downwards. Out of nowhere the pressure on her ankle disappeared, and she stroked upward, lightheaded, afraid she wouldn't make it to the surface in time. As the edges of her vision began to go black, Sabrina surfaced and sucked in air, sinking under and then rising again, wishing she had something to cling to.

Puck's head broke the pond next to her. He shook his hair, showering her in water droplets, and yelled, "The shore! Swim!"

Sabrina's arms and legs felt leaden, and she wanted nothing more than to snap at him for ordering her around, but he had a point. She stroked with difficulty toward the edge of the pond, which was luckily not that far away, and after a few minutes was dragging herself through the aquatic vegetation. The entire world tilted aggressively to the left, and then Sabrina's head met the ground. She lay on the solid earth, gasping, too dizzy to rise.

Puck's arms went around her, and he pulled her into a sitting position. She sagged against him, still gasping for breath, and let him cradle her while she recovered.

"What…was that," she wheezed when she had the air too, rubbing her ribs as if that would alleviate the pain in her lungs.

"A kappa," Puck replied, dropping his cheek onto her hair. She closed her eyes, glad for his solidness. "I don't know what kind. Water toadies are a type of kappa, but they aren't that big. I didn't know there were other types in this pond, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

Sabrina tried to respond and groaned instead. Another minute passed, and then she found the strength to reply, "I'll be fine. Did you get the eggs?"

He let out a humorless laugh. "No, I dropped the net when you went under. It floats, so the eggs I gathered might still be there. It doesn't matter. I'll check later." His arms, strong and somehow warm even though he was also wet, tightened.

"Can kappas walk on land? Should we move?" Sabrina asked. The pounding her in head was subsiding.

"No, it won't come up here. Kappas rarely break the surface to grab prey that was standing as far away as you are. It's your own fault," Puck replied, his voice taking on its usual teasing tone. "Being such a death magnet."

Sabrina snorted, sitting up. "You are the worst. Go check the net so we can get out of here."

Puck dropped his arms somewhat reluctantly and got to his feet. "Try not to die in the two minutes this will take."

He jumped into the air and Sabrina wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. By the time Puck came back, declaring they had enough eggs, Sabrina was sure she'd come down with hypothermia. They teleported back to the nature preserve in Russia, blinking in the sudden mid-day sunlight, and brought out the tent to change and contact Kiram. Sabrina dug around in her bag for a while and then let out a sigh of frustration.

"Do you have anything that'll instantly dry clothes?" She asked Puck around a mouthful of chattering teeth.

Puck scoffed. "Grimm, if I did we wouldn't still be wet. Don't you have a change?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "I do, but I don't have another jacket."

Puck threw her a coat in response. Snatching it out of the air, Sabrina turned it over in her heads. It was army green and seemed as sturdy and warm as her soaking one had been.

"I grew out of that a few years ago, but it should fit you," Puck replied, eyeing her in a way that made skin tingle.

"This isn't going to set me on fire or eat me or something, is it?" Sabrina asked, examining it.

"I don't prank when I'm in the middle of a mission," Puck explained seriously. "But I'll keep that at mind for Christmas at the Old Lady's."

Sabrina threw him a dirty look and ordered him out so she could change. Once she'd put on dry clothes, she slipped the jacket on, digging through the pockets for abandoned glop grenades or dirty tissues. Finding nothing that made her want to vomit, Sabrina zipped it up, breathing in deeply. Even if he hadn't worn it in years, the coat smelled the way Puck did, like pine trees and the earth after it rained and wood smoke and some other smell that Sabrina couldn't name but was distinctly him.

Irritated that she'd noticed what he smelled like, Sabrina left the tent. Puck pulled his phone away from his ear.

"You have a phone?" Sabrina cried. "And yet your main form of communication is a _watch_?"

He'd also never called her before, which was something she noted somewhat bitterly.

He waved a hand as if he couldn't be bothered by this minor detail. "Grimm, we have a problem. Kiram isn't answering his phone."

Sabrina stopped herself from saying that he could be doing a whole slew of things without his phone. "But he was waiting for our call, right?"

Puck nodded. "I think we're going to have to track him down. You still got that address from Jake?"

"I'll find it," Sabrina replied, pulling the bottomless knapsack off her back. While Puck changed, she searched, and finally pulled out her current journal, in which she'd scribbled Kiram's number and address in. They flew to the city and searched for the correct street, anxiety levels rising as Puck called Kiram a few more times and was repeatedly sent to voicemail.

"This one. His apartment is on the third floor," Sabrina muttered after a half hour of searching, folding up their map and pointing to a tall brownstone building that looked like it had seen better days. Taking a deep breath, she led the way up the front steps. There was no security that stopped them from crossing the dingy lobby and pounding up the stairs. Outside of Kiram's apartment door, Sabrina hammered on the door.

Puck and Sabrina exchanged uneasy looks as the wait dragged on and on.

"Something's wrong," Puck whispered, and then his eyes lit up. "Want to break in?"

Sabrina scowled. "No, idiot, he's probably just not home!"

But Puck tried the handle, and when the door swung inward with a soft click, Sabrina drew her sword and followed him inside without hesitation.

The front hallway was empty, but when they turned the corner to the living room, Sabrina had to clamp her jaw together to muffle her gasp.

Kiram was struggling viciously against the ropes that had him bound to a chair, his black curls flying and panic in his eyes. He was clearly trying to yell something at them, but his words were muffled by the gag in his mouth.

Puck and Sabrina exchanged glances, a silent agreement passing between them. While he covered her, Sabrina ran forward, yanked the gag out of Kiram's mouth and began sawing through his bonds with her sword.

"What happened?" Sabrina asked.

"It was the fairy!" Kiram hissed, coughing. "She showed up at the door, disguised as a human, and when I let her in she demanded the last of my poor mother's seaweed. I told her I was sorry, but it wasn't for sale. And then she pulled out a gun and ordered me to give it to her."

"Did you?" Puck growled, scanning the room. "And did she leave, or are we waiting for an ambush?"

Kiram coughed again. "She's gone. I gave her a piece. I hid every piece separately in case something like this happened, so she believed I'd given her everything. And then she tied me up and broke my window on her way out, even though I haven't done anything wrong! Why did she tie me up? Does she know you two? Is this happening because of you?"

He looked from Sabrina to Puck desperately. Biting her lip, Sabrina thought about this. Moth had left a clear message by leaving Kiram in this state: I am a step ahead of you. Stay away.

Unwilling to say this to Kiram, Sabrina shrugged and replied lightly, "Fairies are insane."

She noticed that Puck stiffened when she said this, but by some good fortune didn't say anything.

Kiram was nodding, tearing at his curls. "I have to say, this is embarrassing. I'm usually more capable when it comes to defending myself, but she was a fairy, and she caught me off guard."

"Don't worry about it," Sabrina replied weakly, her mind racing. Desperate to change the topic, she added, "We have the eggs."

Shaking off the loosened ropes, Kiram let out a frustrated sigh and disappeared into the back of his apartment.

"Fairies aren't insane, you're insane," Puck muttered defensively as Sabrina crossed the room to stand by him.

"Shut up, Stinkpot!" Sabrina hissed.

"Can I ask you something?" Kiram said abruptly as he reappeared, a wooden box in his hands. "What do you need this for?"

He turned the box over in his hands and then opened it to display several long, emerald-green strands of seaweed.

Sabrina debated lying, but part of her was curious as to how Kiram would react to the news. "We're trying to open the Lost Cave."

Kiram's eyes narrowed and he shoved the box at her. "No wonder the fairy tied me up."

"What do you mean?" Sabrina asked nervously, shoving the box deep into the rucksack before Kiram could change his mind.

"Fairies are the guardians of the Lost Cave. They wreak all sorts of havoc on anyone who tries to open it."

Puck raised an eyebrow. "Right. We'll keep that in mind. Goodbye!" He ushered Sabrina out of the room and into the hallway, where they practically ran for the stairs.

"Guardians of the Lost Cave? We are not!" Puck whispered as the went.

"Maybe other banished fairies guard it," Sabrina reasoned, flinging open the door to the stairwell and flying downwards. "And maybe Moth doesn't want it opened, maybe she's teamed up with them."

"Maybe. I don't understand what Moth is doing," Puck said, changing the topic. "Flying away mid-fight, leaving our accomplices tied up. If she wants a fight, why doesn't she finish one? I don't get why she keeps coming back if she doesn't actually want to get hurt."

Sabrina frowned. "It's like she waiting for the right moment."

* * *

As the setting sun plunged Puck and Sabrina into darkness for the third time in 36 hours, they walked downhill towards their tent, gathering firewood and shoving it in the backpack so they didn't have to carry it. Daphne and Uncle Jake had met them at the nature preserve, both seeming forcefully cheerful, and had then used the teleporter to head to the last cave.

It was unclear, really, why Uncle Jake had asked them to gather wood, since they had a space heater and had already eaten dinner, but Sabrina and Puck had obliged, eager to do something other than hang around in the tent waiting for them to come back. Puck had a flashlight, but instead of turning it on, he'd spent most of the walk swinging it around, accidentally whacking trees and dropping it once or twice. She hadn't asked him to turn it on. Both of them were used to the dark by now.

Sabrina was lost in thought, since it was almost time to go back to sleep, and what with the nightmares and what had happened last night, part of her was dreading it.

"Were you awake?" Sabrina asked abruptly, as they stumbled downhill, tripping over rocks and grabbing tree trunks for balance. She needed to know, she'd decided. It wouldn't mean anything, but she still wanted to know.

Puck looked up at her, catching the first shards of moonlight in his hair as he did. "When?" he replied, wariness encroaching on the lighthearted tone he'd taken earlier.

"Last night. When I was…also awake."

"Does it matter?"

Sabrina lengthened her stride to close the distance between them, almost falling but regaining her footing just in time. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He spun to face her, eyes glinting, catching her off guard. "Kind of hard to sleep when you were basically doing backflips beside me."

She had about a foot of hillside on him, and looked down at him for the first time since they'd been about fourteen. A roundabout answer, but an answer enough.

"Why'd you do it?" There was her heart again, pounding so hard that it could have been trying to drown out his answer with its thunder.

Almost-anguish, the same emotion that had written itself across his features the other day at the bog. "You were cold."

Sabrina's insides clenched in embarrassment. She muttered, "I wasn't _that_ cold." Ironic that he was the one shivering now, having left his coat in the tent, claiming that the weather was practically like July after their time in the tundra.

She began to stride past him, toward the shadows that were drowning their tent.

"Why are you—Sabrina," Puck breathed, catching her arm. For some reason, perhaps because he'd called her by her first name, she allowed herself to be turned around. Then he found his voice and snapped, "Why are you mad?"

"I'm not mad," Sabrina began, looking up at him now. For the first time, she wondered what _he_ had decided in the six years they'd been apart. Part of her was glad for the shield of darkness between them. It made it easier to blurt out, "I just didn't think you would care. I thought you'd make fun of me."

And then bit her tongue to stop any other phrase that might make her cringe from slipping out.

"I didn't think _you_ would," Puck shot back, an agitated silhouette. "You've spent ages acting carefully uninterested. This is so unlike you, by the way. Are you feeling okay?" His question was sarcastic.

Sabrina had a feeling she was not the only one whose mouth was more in control than their mind at the moment.

"What are you talking about? Carefully uninterested?" Sabrina snapped, her blood boiling.

He gave a humorless laugh, his words laced with irritation. "You know what I mean. For a while you had me fooled, Grimm. I thought you really didn't care about me. But after these past few days, I'm not too sure."

He shook the flashlight at her as if he was accusing her of some terrible deed.

Aware that she was gaping at him, Sabrina struggled to think of a suitable way to answer this without disturbing the walls.

"What does that even mean?" she cried, indignant. "Puck, there is nothing between us!"

Her arms flailed toward him and then back toward her, as if that would get the point across.

"I know that!" Puck snapped. "But I think you're forgetting!"

"Oh, please! How could there be anything between us if you're gone all the time?" Sabrina retorted, crossing her arms. It was an accusation, not a question, and Puck knew that. She watched him struggle to answer.

"There could be!" He threw back. "If you didn't hide your _love_ for me behind indifference!"

His challenge hung between them.

 _There could be. Love for me._

"You're so arrogant!" Sabrina hissed finally, clenching her fists. Her heart was starting to pound again as she thought about what he was implying. "You drive me insane!"

Before he could retaliate, Sabrina sucked in a sharp, sarcastic breath and continued angrily, "And since when did _you_ want there to be anything between us?"

Sabrina and Puck glared at each other, and when it was clear that Puck was not going to answer her, Sabrina stormed into the tent, her face burning with anger and indignation. She ripped off his jacket and tossed it aside. Then she paced the length of the main room, digging her nails into her palm, trying to understand why she felt disappointed. Her heart was pounding a violent tattoo: _there could be, there could be, there could be._

Oh, god. Sabrina felt the walls crumbling.

Her back was to the entrance when a soft rustle announced Puck's arrival. When she spun to face him, ready to continue the fight, his eyes were wide, the tip of his nose red from the cold.

"You never said you didn't," he whispered, and something about the way he was looking at her made Sabrina's cheeks warm. She felt the anger rush out of her and stopped walking a foot away from him.

"Neither did you," Sabrina replied, her voice barely audible.

Puck took a step closer, and she was looking up again, determined to hold the challenge in his eyes, despite the sudden fuzziness in her head. The tips of her fingers were hot, all she could hear was her pulse, and she was close enough that she felt like she was breathing him in.

The intensity of Puck's gaze heightened, and he reached across the space between them and brushed her cheek under the cut the Kuli-baba had made. His fingers lingered on her skin.

Feeling like he had thrown them off the cliff in New York again, Sabrina closed the distance and kissed him.

There was a soft _thump_ as the flashlight Puck had been holding hit the ground, and then his arms were wrapped around her waist, one hand sliding across her back. His hair and shirt were soft under her fingers. Sabrina's insides imploded as his teeth grazed her bottom lip, and she pressed so close that she could feel his ribs, the beating of his heart against hers. He smelled like his old jacket, pine trees and rain, and held her like he never intended to let go. As the heat of his mouth melted her mind, she realized she didn't want him to.

They broke apart frantically, reluctantly, as someone unzipped the tent's zipper.

Daphne and Uncle Jake spilled in, pushing Sabrina and Puck apart.

"We found it! We found it!" Daphne exclaimed, doing a little happy dance.

Sabrina's brain was not working properly. "What?"

"The cave!" Daphne cried, grabbing her sister's hand and shaking it.

"Great," Sabrina replied automatically, glancing at Puck. He seemed frozen in place, but was staring at her like he'd never seen anything quite like her before. Sabrina felt both resent and relief that her sister and uncle had showed up at this exact moment.

"This is great news, really fantastic," Uncle Jake said, oblivious, running into the back room. "We haven't got much time before Moth catches up with us, though. Plus we should throw her off the scent, so I think we'll teleport somewhere else for the night. Let's all get out of this tent so I can pack it."

Sabrina and Puck's arms brushed as they filed out behind Daphne in silence, and Sabrina lost the ability to breathe, her head still reeling from what had just happened. What were they going to do? They couldn't be together, Sabrina knew that.

She knew that, and yet she tried hard to forget as she remembered the feeling of his lips on hers.

 _Puck will always be the smelly fairy boy who glued your head to a basketball,_ she scolded herself.

"Everybody holding on?" Uncle Jake asked. Sabrina jumped, blinking in surprise at their tentless site.

Puck slid his fingers through Sabrina's and put his other hand on Uncle Jake's shoulder and gave a casual affirmative.

Sabrina swallowed hard, her fingers twitching. They folded in half, then half again, and then blinked away from the nature preserve, landing somewhere slightly colder.

"Perfect!" Uncle Jake declared, clapping his hands. In moments, the tent was growing into existence. "We have a busy, busy day ahead, so I want you three to get some sleep. I'll take first watch! But first, let me show you two the map." He gestured to Sabrina and Puck.

"Okay!" Daphne cried, leading the way inside. She went straight to the back room to begin shaking out sleeping bags while Uncle Jake lit a lantern.

He dropped a pinch of blue powder onto the flame. "That'll stop anyone from overhearing us," he explained, unrolling the map they'd gotten from Vanessa. "This is where we are now. And this location—location six, is the entrance of the Lost Cave."

"Okay," Sabrina replied, doing her best to not look at Puck as embarrassment began to set in.

"Why aren't you two more excited?" Uncle Jake asked, looking slightly crestfallen. "This is what we've been working towards, and we're almost done!"

Sabrina saw the opportunity and ran with it. "Exactly. Once this is over, Daphne and I have to go," she said, realizing that her reason was not false, after all.

Uncle Jake's face melted into a smile. He ruffled Sabrina's hair and said, "You're welcome back any time. Now go sleep."

Although she felt his eyes on her, Sabrina couldn't look at Puck as they crossed into the back room and zipped the divider closed. Daphne had lined up their sleeping bags and taken the one on the far right, leaving Sabrina and Puck next to each other. She was already snoring.

"You want middle?" Puck whispered. His voice made her jump.

"Sure," Sabrina replied, proud of how normal her voice sounded. Zipping up Puck's jacket, Sabrina crawled into her bag.

Silence settled over them. Sabrina stared at the curved ceiling of the tent. Part of her wanted to move, to leave the tent and run off into the night, if only to rid herself of the jittery feeling in her arms. The other part of her wanted to close the distance between them. Trapped between two bad ideas, Sabrina breathed in deeply through her nose and blew it out her mouth, closing her eyes.

"Grimm," Puck whispered. Sabrina rolled to face him, somewhat relieved they were no longer on a first-name basis. He was lying on his back, his hands on his stomach, staring at the ceiling.

"Not now," she hissed, pointed at the divider. Uncle Jake's humming carried through it.

"I know," he replied, so quietly that Sabrina had to strain to hear him. His slanting eyes slid to meet hers. "But I want you to know that if you hadn't done that, I would've."

"I hope so," Sabrina said after a moment, sinking back onto her pillow. Heat flooded her cheeks at the confession.

 _You are going to hate yourself in the morning._

Puck propped himself up on his elbow, eyeing the divider. Before Sabrina could process what was happening, he leaned down and kissed her again. She put a hand on the back of his head and kissed him back, deciding that she'd already done enough damage that _one_ more wouldn't hurt.

She was breathless when Puck let her go. Side by side, they laid in their sleeping bags, until Puck finally drifted off.

Surrounded by her sister and her…whatever Puck was, Sabrina was more alone that she had been in days. She struggled to sort through her thoughts.

She told herself the same thing she'd been saying for days, that any sort of interaction with Puck would only lead to her getting hurt. The thirst for adventure that he shared with her uncle hadn't died out yet. He was going to leave again. She knew that.

But the crazy thing was, that in that moment, Sabrina didn't care. She squeezed a handful of her sleeping bag, trying to listen to her own reasoning. Tomorrow, she ordered herself. Tomorrow you pull him aside and tell him no.

But the last thought in her mind, before she drifted off, was that whatever pain was coming might just be worth it.

 **A/N:** _ **Whew.**_ **Two kisses! And now we have some idea what Moth is doing! That crazy girl. That was wild (to write). It was funny, because I wrote some parts so fast and so late at night that when I went back and edited, I found so many sentences that were just completely missing important words (like "were" and "was") and there were several places where I'd followed a period at the end of a sentence with a comma? I think this either means that I need sleep, or that 3am me is attempting to recreate the English language, but either way it made me laugh.**

 **Grammar issues aside, writing this last part was kind of hard, since I've never written a kiss scene before. And here is where I ask for your help. What do you think of the way Sabrina and Puck's relationship was built? How was the kiss scene (good, bad, boring forced, etc)? Is Sabrina acting like herself or does this seem unlike her? Some outside perspective is always useful for things like that, so please leave a review and let me know if you have the time.**

 **To the people who reviewed my last chapter—thank you all so much! Your reviews make me smile.**


	7. The Lost Cave

**A/N: Since Sabrina and Daphne are together in this chapter, I started off each section with the name of the sister whose point of view it's in, since I wasn't sure the second half was clear otherwise.**

 **Anyways—hi there! Long time no see! New chapter, finally. You can blame finals week(s) for the long stretch of time between updates. The next chapter is mostly written so it'll be posted probably a few days after Christmas once I edit it! For now, please accept this chapter as an apology for being MIA for the past 84 years.**

 **This chapter was incredibly difficult to write for me. I kept getting stuck attempting to figure out Puck and Sabrina's relationship, and so writing time ended up being mostly staring off into space struggling to figure out the next step for these guys, or writing stuff that I had to completely delete (12 pages worth of writing down the drain! Ugh). I think that the agony paid off in the end, though, and if you have the time, I would love to hear what you thought of what happens.**

 **Huge shoutout/thank you to Quill and Spindle for the long PM that helped me figure out what to do, P &S wise. **

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed my last chapter! You guys are the best.**

 **HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**

 **Guest reviewers:**

 **Tasty Kake: Hi! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter, I think it may have been my favorite as well.**

 **Guest (12/16/16): Thank you!**

 _Sabrina_

Talking to Puck alone proved to be an impossible feat, because Uncle Jake and Daphne seemed incapable of giving anyone space. At first it made sense, since they were talking almost constantly about the events of the past few days. But after they'd caught up, Sabrina had gone into the back room of the tent and been followed by Uncle Jake, until she'd squawked that she was about to change, which made him withdraw with the promise that he would be right outside the divider if she needed anything. At breakfast, Daphne sat so close to Puck that she was practically in his lap, and then refused to give a reason for her behavior that wasn't _I didn't see him there_ , and then didn't move until Sabrina pointed out that if she wasn't careful, Puck's stink would get all over her.

Sabrina tried not to pay their behavior any mind, seeing as Daphne and her uncle were some of the oddest people she'd ever met, and putting them together seemed to augment their weirdness. Besides, she had enough on her mind. Sabrina was slowly digesting the information that Moth had an accomplice, and that she was after a sword that would enhance her strengths and weaknesses alike. A sword like that seemed risky to Sabrina, and attempting to share it with another person even riskier. She wondered what they wanted with it. Uncle Jake and Daphne didn't know and didn't seem to think it was worth trying to figure out.

A loud crash startled Sabrina to her senses, and she looked over to see that her sister had stuck her head and shoulders into the bottomless knapsack.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, moving to her sister's side in two strides, ready to rescue her from the clutches of a backpack. "You look like an ostrich!"

With a grunt, Daphne withdrew, holding a box of Pop-Tarts and pouting. "I was hungry! And I knocked over the bust of some old guy. Hopefully it wasn't cursed or anything."

Sabrina scowled and rubbed her arms, wishing that she was less jumpy. Sighing loudly behind her, Puck shook his head like a dog and ducked around the girls.

"Nature calls," he announced, moving to unzip the tent.

"Nature is also calling me," Uncle Jake blurted out, and Sabrina snorted at the bewildered look Puck gave her. Oblivious to the discomfort of his teenage sidekick, Uncle Jake led the way out of the tent, leaving the sisters alone.

Sabrina stared at Puck's retreated back, visible through the door neither of them had thought to close. Despite the new mystery surrounding Moth, she'd found her thoughts more preoccupied with Puck than she would have liked. They'd grown so used to each other again that Sabrina was almost surprised at how awkward the morning had been. Stuck in a small tent preparing for a potential showdown at the Lost Cave, they found themselves trying to cross between the rooms at the same time, or attempting to dig into the same bag, or reaching for the same water bottle too often. They would stammer apologies and struggle to get out of each other's way, causing Uncle Jake and Daphne to come running, looking for problems that didn't exist and making everything worse.

Mostly, Sabrina felt confused. The to-do list for their trip, which had been burned in her brain, consisted of _Yeti blood, dagger from Nightingale, seaweed from Kikimora, find the cave, open the cave, retrieve the contents, home by Christmas._ She'd been moving down the list as the days went by and had never expected _kiss Puck_ to be something that existed at all, let alone an item that she could check off.

Not only had they kissed, but they had kissed _twice_! And, to her own disbelief, the idea of kissing him again made her heart ache with longing, even though she knew it was a bad idea. As they waited for Uncle Jake to gather everything so that they could leave, Sabrina found herself turning the problem of bad timing and distance over in her mind, searching for a way around it. There was no solution she could see, but her brain kept presenting her with the fact that they were together _right now_ , and the more she battled with herself, the flimsier the argument that they were only together for a week seemed.

And Sabrina tried, really, to stop that train of thought from barreling down the tracks and crashing, telling herself that any debate was moot, that despite what she was feeling, she was about to tell him _no_.

But what would be the difference, really, if she gave into her feelings, just for a week? Give in enough to pull back out, stand in the threshold of the door they'd opened last night for a nanosecond of their eternal lives before stepping back into safety. Heaven help her, it was an appealing idea.

Her head began to pound with possibility. Appealing, but dangerous. She thought about her friend Kylie, who'd burst into her dorm room heartbroken in the middle of the night, in tears because she'd wanted more than what some guy down the hall was willing to give her. But Sabrina wouldn't let that happen to her. She knew Puck would leave, and that nothing she could do would change that. Whatever she felt for him—well, she'd felt it from a distance for a long time, and could certainly go back to that if she had to. No different than before. Catch and release.

If she was the one in control, she could stop herself from getting hurt. Perhaps after this she could even move on.

It wasn't like Sabrina had never dated before. She'd had a boyfriend junior year of high school but had ended it after a few months. He wasn't what she was looking for, perfectly nice but not her type.

She remembered the pointed way Daphne had asked for an example of "her type" after the breakup, remembered being able to judge by the way her eyebrows had gone up when Sabrina had struggled to answer that they'd been thinking of the same world traveler.

 _One of you is going to get burned,_ said a nasty little voice in the back of her head.

"Not necessarily," she muttered back. This could be the true test. Did she actually have feelings for him? Or did the piece of her that was still a twelve-year-old girl who lived in Ferryport Landing love the idea of him?

Daphne turned around. "What?"

Sabrina jumped and then let out a shaky laugh. She'd forgotten Daphne was there. "Nothing, sorry. Just thinking."

With a frustrated sigh, Daphne plopped down beside her and dropped her head on Sabrina's shoulder. "I don't want to go back home."

Sabrina paused, unsure she'd heard her correctly. "The other day you wanted to quit."

Daphne shrugged. "I mean, I'm still terrified. But I missed doing the Grimm thing. I missed Puck and Uncle Jake. I'm sure you did too."

Sabrina could only bring herself to nod, sure Daphne felt the motion through the temple that was resting on her shoulder.

"The closer we get to the end of this, the less sure I am that they'll stay when it's over," Daphne admitted. "I was optimistic at first, but then I think, what are we doing here? Do we really mean anything to them anymore? They have a whole other life that we're barely a part of."

Swallowing hard, Sabrina patted her sister's cheek. "We still mean something to them," she replied, although she could tell that neither of them was convinced by her words.

She curled her shaking fingers into her palms, wishing that Daphne hadn't just stated all of the worries she was trying to ignore.

Uncle Jake barged back into the tent, an agitated Puck in tow. "Ready, guys?"

They teleported to a village near the Lost Cave and hiked from there, hoping that the magical trace left by the machine would be far enough from the actual location of the cave to throw Moth and Ariel off if they were able to find it. Daphne led the way down the snow-dusted streets, doing a funny little hop on every other step, like she was half-heartedly skipping. Catching Sabrina's eye, Daphne linked her arm through her sister's and pulled her along, making her laugh for the first time all day.

 _Thank God for Daphne,_ Sabrina thought, smooshing her sister into a one-armed hug that she hoped would convey all of the emotions her words couldn't.

Daphne laughed too, and then Sabrina pulled away and asked, her breath rising in the air, "How much farther?"

Scratching his scruff, Uncle Jake replied, "We're just reaching the forest, 'Brina. We've got a while to go."

Once they were out of sight of the village, Uncle Jake and Daphne began to jog on some unspoken agreement.

"Why are you running?" Sabrina asked, lengthening her stride to keep pace with them. The sharp air stung her lungs, and she didn't want to think about how much it would hurt to be breathing heavily in the chill.

Daphne rolled her eyes, as if she was shocked she had to explain. "We're lightly jogging, remember?"

"You guys aren't moving that much faster than you would be if you just walked," Puck pointed out, shaking his head in disbelief as if he had had it with their travel companions.

Daphne and Uncle Jake exchanged exasperated looks. "It adds up," Daphne said defensively. "Come on, jog with us!"

"You're hardly jogging," Puck argued, slowing down slightly so that the gap between them widened. "We'll walk."

"Don't come crying to us if you have to sprint to catch up later!" Uncle Jake sang.

"That won't be necessary," Sabrina said, slowing down as well. Usually she would have been annoyed with this unnecessary measure, would have argued with them, but she was as alone with Puck as she would probably get all day, and she was too focused on the mental train, speeding down its track toward impending demise.

"What do we do about what happened last night?" Puck whispered, eyeing the pair in front of them, who were talking loudly about different training programs.

Unable to look at him, Sabrina watched Daphne's braids bounce and gave the speech she'd been rehearsing all morning. "We act like it didn't happen. Next week you'll leave again and I'll go back to school, and who knows how many years will pass before we see each other again?"

There was more bite in her last sentence than she'd intended. Listening to the snow crunch under their boots and the labored breathing of Daphne and Uncle Jake, Sabrina waited on edge for Puck to say something, wondering if he was mad at her, or perhaps relieved. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth slowly to calm her racing heart.

Finally, in a tone that was both hurt and confused, Puck replied, "Is that what you want?"

"No," she replied before she could stop herself, and then steeled herself and added, "But it's what makes the most sense."

She thought her chest might be caving in and looked at trees around them with such determination that she walked into Uncle Jake, who had stopped short in front of them. He held out a hand to stop her but otherwise did not pay her any attention, his eyes trained on a spot in the distance.

"What?" she whispered, as Puck and Daphne drew closer to them.

"Do you see the movement?" Uncle Jake asked, pointing.

Daphne gasped. "Yes!" She grabbed Sabrina's wrist and squeezed hard. Sabrina found it difficult to care about whatever they were looking at. It felt like she'd just stomped on her own heart.

Puck snorted. "Yeah, that's a fox."

Three heads whipped toward him. "Are you sure?" Uncle Jake asked, squinting.

"Yes, unless Moth and Ariel have four legs and are about two feet tall, we're fine," Puck said, rolling his eyes. "Superior vision!"

"If I had a dollar for every time you've said that…" Sabrina grumbled, and then turned red at the smirk he gave her. Why, why did this have to be happening now, in the middle of Russia?

"Well, if you combine them they have four legs," Daphne reasoned as they started walking again. Puck and Sabrina dropped back a bit again.

"I know you're right," he muttered, reverting to a serious tone. "But I wish you weren't."

Sabrina's mouth went dry. She was very aware of the weight of her boots on the earth. "We could…we could…"

"What?"

She glanced at him again and the battle that had been raging inside her was suddenly won by the desperate look in his eyes.

"We have a week," she whispered, could just barely hear her words over the roaring of her pulse in her ears.

"Almost there!" Daphne called over her shoulder, jolting Sabrina back to the real world.

Sabrina turned back to Puck, fear and desire swirling in her gut.

His eyes were wider than she'd ever seen them. "Yeah, we do," he replied, and a massive wave of relief hit her and made her suck in a breath.

"We can't tell anyone," Sabrina insisted when she could speak again.

"Guys!" Uncle Jake hissed. Sabrina jumped, tore her gaze away from Puck, and found Daphne and Jake watching them. She'd been so wrapped up in conversation that she hadn't noticed how close they were to this edge of the woods. Here, snowy pines gave way to a flat stretch of field that looked unnaturally bald, sandwiched between the forest and the colossal, craggy cliff some thousand feet away.

"We're here," Daphne said, her face unreadable, and Sabrina wondered how long they'd been watching them.

Drawing closer to her sister, Sabrina took in the cliff, examining the long cracks and the small trees growing straight up from the sheer sides. The snow that covered the field speckled the gray rock face, and even from this distance Sabrina had to crane her neck to see the top, which sliced cleanly into the sky. She felt a sudden chill race up her spine.

"Damn," Uncle Jake breathed, the word turning to mist above his head. "The last leg of the journey."

Sabrina nodded absently, her mind reeling from what she had just done. She knew she'd made a mistake. She tried to care.

Puck snapped into Adventure Mode. "You and Daphne should make the potion while Grimm and I stand guard. What does this Ariel guy look like?"

Daphne shuddered. "Dark hair, medium build, soulless eyes?"

Had the situation been less serious, Sabrina would have laughed. "What are the odds we're walking into a trap?"

Uncle Jake sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Yes, let's do Puck's plan. Odds are high that this is a trap. Remember, the most important thing is that the four of us get out together, in one piece. If things are looking bad we'll call it quits. If, for some reason, you're left out of teleporting, find the doorway that we came in from, put your hand on it, and ask the cave to leave. Once we're out, there's no way we can get back in to rescue you. Understand?"

The three teenagers nodded in agreement, but Uncle Jake was not appeased. He rounded on them, adding, "All of us getting out unharmed is more important than obtaining the sword."

"Got it?" Daphne snapped, moving to stand next to him and crossing her arms. Sabrina frowned, suspicious.

Puck said the words for her. "Are we in more danger than we think we are?"

Uncle Jake and Daphne both relaxed into would-be casual poses. "Not to my knowledge," Uncle Jake replied airily. "Just, you know, gotta be careful."

"Who knows what Moth could want?" Daphne said loudly, elbowing their uncle in the ribs.

"Not us!" Uncle Jake cried, flashing an innocent smile at Puck and Sabrina.

"Wow, you two are incredible under pressure," Sabrina scoffed. "What haven't you told us?"

Uncle Jake waved a casual hand. "Nothing! Now come on, time's a-wasting!"

With that, Uncle Jake had scooped up his bag and was sprinting toward the cliff, Daphne hot on his heels.

"Do you know what that was about?" Sabrina asked Puck.

He shook his head. "I would've told you."

"Same," Sabrina agreed. Puck took a deep breath and Sabrina thought he was going to say something, but then his gaze moved out to the field and he took off after the others. Sabrina followed, the powdery snow slowing her stride as if she was running through molasses. With every step the back of her neck prickled more, and she kept looking over her shoulder, expecting to see Moth. They were so exposed. If Ariel had his gun and horrible intentions, they were fish in a barrel.

Uncle Jake threw himself on the ground in front of the cliff and scooped out a hole in the snow, which he practically threw a wooden bowl into. Daphne spread the ingredients out around them. Keeping close to the cliff, Sabrina and Puck paced with their swords out. Sabrina tried to watch the sky for Fae, tensing up at the few birds that flew by, and the forest at the same time.

It was difficult to ignore Puck, and harder still to keep herself from obsessing over the vague decision they'd just made. She tried instead to focus on Daphne's voice, which was a frantic mutter that managed to bounce off the cliff behind her.

"Yes, we burn the seaweed. Ashes to mix with the blood, remember? Gross, I know."

Sabrina's hands were sweating in her gloves. She ripped them off and brandished her sword again, fingers stinging in the cold. At least she had a grip now.

"This needs to burn faster," Uncle Jake hissed a tense minute later, bopping his head up and down in time to imaginary music. She supposed he would be tapping his finger against his knee like he did sometimes, except one hand was holding a lighter and the other hand the seaweed above it. Sabrina watched the seaweed blacken and crumble into the bowl for a few seconds before realizing with a jolt that she wasn't doing her job and turning away.

"Good, that's enough," Daphne said after an eternity. Blowing a strand of hair off her face, Sabrina bounced up and down on the balls of her feet and scanned the sky.

"No, don't stick the knife in the bowl yet!"

"What is the dagger for, anyways?" Sabrina asked, looking up the cliff. If there was anyone at the top, she wasn't sure she'd be able to tell. It was too high up. She should tell Puck to look instead.

"Yeah, what did we run all over the coldest part of the world for?" Puck added, and Sabrina winced at the memory.

She heard rather than saw Uncle Jake's grimace as he replied, "This."

She turned and gasped at the sight of her uncle pricking his thumb with the dagger and squeezed a few droplets of blood into the bowl. Cursing under his breath, he held the dagger out to Daphne with instructions to stir and sat back hard.

"Nightingale's daggers hurt more than a normal knife," Uncle Jake croaked, sucking on his cut.

"Can't possibly be as bad as his whistle," Sabrina said, spotting movement in her peripheral vision. When she turned, no one was there. The chills returned.

"We made it out alive, didn't we?" Puck said to her, as if the incident had been nothing.

Sabrina scowled. "With no thanks to you!"

"I flew us to safety!"

"Only because I was covering your ears!"

"Can you two flirt later, please?" Daphne snapped, glaring at the two of them. "We're trying to do this quickly."

Sabrina and Puck fell silent as if they'd been slapped, looking anywhere except each other. It was a testament to the strain Daphne was feeling for her to say such a thing. It didn't mean anything, Sabrina told herself. She didn't know what had happened last night.

"Done. Uncle Jake, when you're ready," Daphne continued after a tense moment of silence, holding out the bowl.

Their uncle pulled himself together and accepted the bowl. Distracted again, Sabrina waited with baited breath to see what he would do, slightly worried he was about to drink the disgusting solution they'd just made.

Instead, he approached the cliff.

"Everyone, get close," he ordered. "Hold onto me, you'll only get in if you've got a hand on me."

Once they were clustered together, Uncle Jake used the flat blade of the dagger to smear the concoction on the cliff face. Sabrina's hand was shaking slightly on his shoulder. It was hard to believe that they were about to access the cave without even seeing Moth.

The unyielding stone in front of them began to shimmer, as if the ancient rock was warming and evaporating. A bubbling sensation ran from Sabrina's fingertips down to her toes, and looked down at herself to find that her body was blurring, smudging against the landscape.

She jerked in alarm and resisted the urge to yank her hand away. As the world began to fade, something hit her in the side and made her stumble. Just barely able to keep a hand on her uncle, Sabrina looked into the murderous eyes of a man a few years older than her, and then everything went dark.

* * *

 _Daphne_

The first thing Daphne heard when they re-materialized inside the cliff was Sabrina yelling. Panic bubbling in her throat, Daphne fumbled for her wand, cried, "Gimme some light!" and proceeded to scream.

Ariel and Moth had appeared like specters, must have somehow tacked onto the group at the very last second. Uncle Jake was on the floor, with Ariel on top of him. A few feet away, Sabrina was struggling to keep Moth in a headlock. The hatred in the room was potent. Puck looked at Daphne in alarm, then Sabrina and Moth, and finally Uncle Jake. He seemed to trust Sabrina to handle herself and lunged at Ariel, knocking him off her uncle.

Spitting blood, Uncle Jake leapt to his feet and threw himself back into the fray. Daphne scraped her jaw off the ground and tried to evaluate the situation. Puck was right—Sabrina did have her own fight under control. Daphne whirled around, taking in the cave as quickly as they could while everyone else was distracted.

This room appeared to be carved from solid rock. It was about the size of a football field and shapeless due to the shadows that drenched the edges of the room and the ceiling, which was at a questionable height. The floor was littered with mounds of gold and silver trinkets that glimmered in the light Daphne had made. About a quarter of the way across the cave, a pedestal rose from the ground.

Daphne's heart quickened. She couldn't see to be sure, but she had to be looking at the resting place of Kladenets. Throwing a glance over her shoulder—everyone was absorbed in the fight, no one had noticed her—Daphne sprinted toward it.

It was Moth who first realized what she was doing, who shouted after her, but she was too late. Daphne slid on a pile of silver coins, grabbed the edge of the stone pedestal to steady herself, and then her hand was closing over the ancient leather of the hilt.

Daphne gasped at the feel of it. The hilt was heavy, the balance slightly off, but as she held it she could feel strength flowing from the metal into her body. The pressure at the base of her spine intensified so much that it almost hurt to stand. Despite the pain, Daphne shook her head to clear it and headed back across the cave.

"I have the sword!" she yelled. Bile rose in her throat at the way Kladenets made her body shake but she picked up the pace to a jog anyways, desperate to stop her family from getting hurt. Her head was buzzing like she'd just chugged a Monster energy drink. "So I want Moth and Ariel to back up!"

Moth, who had taken several steps toward Daphne before Sabrina had grabbed the back of her jacket, froze, her beautiful face a twisted mask. Everyone seemed spellbound by the gleam of the metal in the light. Daphne ground to a halt out of reach of the others, holding the sword the way she'd watched her sister hold every sword she'd ever wielded, across her body to protect her heart.

Daphne's heart sank when neither enemy moved. The problem, she was realizing, was that she had the teleporter, and her relatives were all so far away. Besides, there was no way she could get it out and turn it on without putting Kladenets down.

Moth broke the spell first, springing into action. But instead of attacking Daphne, she whirled on Sabrina, who was gasping for breath and bleeding profusely from a cut on her temple, grabbed her from behind, and held a knife to her throat. Moth was worse for wear, her teeth red from blood and her a magnificent bruise blooming over her left eye, but she was steadier on her feet as she hissed, "Hand over the sword or she dies."

Daphne let out a tiny yelp before she could stop herself, her heart in her mouth. She looked to Sabrina for help, but her sister wouldn't meet her gaze.

"Moth, let her go," Puck demanded, panic coloring his voice.

"Trickster King, you make one move and I'll slit her throat with relish," Moth said through gritted teeth, without moving her glare from Daphne.

Sabrina's hand flew to Moth's hilt, covering the other girl's hand with an iron grip. They struggled, Sabrina eyeing the knife in fear as she tried to push it away from her body. As if he'd been ordered to, Ariel stepped away from the men and raised his gun, leveling it with Puck's ear. It was a testament to the fact that he'd survived four thousand years of life that Puck did not flinch, did not stiffen, did not acknowledge Ariel in any other way than to curl his lip in a sneer.

"I'd stop that if I were you," Ariel's cold and melodious voice carried through the dim cavern. Sabrina's hand dropped so quickly that the flat of knife bounced against her throat, making her gag.

Daphne's mind started racing. She needed to get Sabrina and Puck to safety, but how could she do that when she had no idea how to use her one leverage piece? If she tried to fight, one or both of them would die.

So she swallowed and directed her words at Moth. "How do I know you won't just kill her anyways?" Her hands were sweaty on the hilt.

Moth laughed a laugh that was more of a wheeze. Her features were delicate and cruel, and truly Fae, Daphne could see that now. This was a girl who had watched civilizations rise and fall, whose moral compass had been obliterated sometime in her long life, who wore dried blood in her hair like a trophy.

"Let me rephrase," Moth spat. "If you don't give me the sword, I'll slit her throat and take it from you myself. If you do give me the sword, maybe I'll let her live."

Sabrina scowled. Daphne knew how much she hated being a leverage piece.

"Why are you doing this?" Puck demanded, his voice taking a childish turn, as if he and Moth were still the kids who couldn't navigate the arranged marriage their parents had tried to force upon them.

Moth pressed the dagger into Sabrina's throat, just enough so that small beads of blood broke through the skin. Closing her eyes, Sabrina pressed her lips together, like she was determined not to make a sound. Puck hissed out a breath, clenching his fists. Daphne could tell that like her, he was dying to rescue Sabrina. But what could she do? What could either of them do? Kladenets began to shake in Daphne's hands again.

"I was promised the Kingdom of Faerie," Moth said with a leer. "And I've come to collect on that promise. The King and Queen must die."

Daphne cringed, regretting keeping this small misconception from Puck and Sabrina. She watched Puck's head jerk back in horror as the pieces clicked together.

Even Sabrina, who was in no state to be talking, cried hoarsely, "I'm not the Queen of Faerie!"

"Don't lie to me, peasant," Moth said, tightening her grip. "I'm not stupid. Now hand over the sword!"

Puck was trembling with rage. Terror for Sabrina, not the gun Ariel held in an unwavering promise, seemed to be the only thing keeping him from jumping her. Through gritted teeth, he replied, "She isn't the Queen of anything. Let her go, Moth. You can have me instead, but your fight isn't with her."

Genuine surprise made Moth lower the dagger for a split second before bringing it back. "If she isn't the Queen, then why is it in your will that she gets the Kingdom, should everyone in your blood family die?"

"What?" Daphne and Uncle Jake cried. Sabrina's eyes widened, and Puck took a step back as if nothing could have shocked him more than what Moth had just said. Ariel continued to watch silently, tracing the air with his weapon to follow each one of Puck's movements, amusement playing on his face. His expression disturbed Daphne even more than what Moth was saying.

Puck was spluttering. "They told me I had to pick someone! It's never going to happen, the odds that Titania, Mustardseed, and I all die before there's a heir are…"

His voice faltered and trailed off into nothing as the full weight of the situation they were in seemed to hit him.

"You picked me?" Sabrina croaked, and then she gagged again as the knife was pressed into her throat.

Moth's voice was curt, her face a mask. "Of course he did. The boy fell in love with a foolish human who, but some stroke of luck, cheated mortality. I've seen the cycles of kingdoms, of kings and lust. It would only be a matter of time before you wore the crown, if not for me."

Sabrina stammered, looking so helpless that Daphne completely gave up. They would cross this bridge when they got to it. "If I drop the sword, do you swear to let us all go?"

Moth's cold eyes met her own for a second before they slid greedily to the blade in Daphne's hands. "You have my word, child."

Kladenets hit stone with a clatter that made everyone jump. Puck lunged for Sabrina as she stumbled, and Daphne jumped out of the way, fearing for her own safety as Moth and Ariel both ran for Kladenets at the same time. Skirting a pile of chain mail, she ran over to her family, pulling the teleporter out of her pocket. Uncle Jake grabbed her and pulled her behind him, out of danger.

"Are you okay?" Puck was asking Sabrina, anguished.

"I'm fine," Sabrina snapped, shaking her head to clear it and staggering away from him. "Why are we all just standing here? Someone stop them!"

"Regal words!" Moth mocked, brandishing Kladenets while Ariel skulked behind her. "Here's a lesson for a doomed Queen, Grimm. Always keep your promises. I'll give you all to the count of three to get out of here before I try out this _beautiful_ piece of weaponry."

"Everybody grab on!" Daphne hissed, fumbling with the teleporter, pressing buttons. She felt three hands on her.

"Three!" Moth snarled, and then everything happened so fast that it would take Daphne several hours to process it.

Ariel shot like a dark bullet through the space between them, colliding with Puck and ripping his hand off her arm. She felt the machine come to life in her hands and looked around frantically for Puck but saw only Moth, sprinting toward them. Then she made eye contact with her sister, and could tell what she was about to do. Fresh horror rose like bile. " _No!_ "

She struggled to turn off the machine but knew it was too late. Sabrina took her hand away too and kicked Moth in the stomach. Snatching Kladenets from Moth's limp fingers before she could recover, she thrust the hilt into the hand that Daphne had stuck to rescue her. Daphne's fingers closed around leather instead of flesh and her heart ripped in half.

Sabrina turned away from her, looking for Puck, but Daphne caught the panic on her face as she folded in half, into darkness, to a place where she couldn't help, leaving her wounded sister to fend for herself.


	8. King and Queen

"I'm going to have to kill your sister now, peasant," Moth spat, cocking her fist and punching Sabrina in the jaw. Sabrina staggered backward, and through the blur of reflexive tears that had sprung into her eyes, she watched the other girl feel the empty air where her family had stood.

"Stay away from her!" she warned, spitting blood. "Moth, don't touch her! She didn't do anything!"

The fairy girl did not acknowledge her. Squaring her shoulders, she cried, "Ariel! Keep them here! Wait for my word!"

Ariel grunted in response and Sabrina forced herself to straighten, holding her aching jaw as Moth disappeared into thin air. Her body felt like it had been run over by a truck, but her heart and head felt worse. They were alive for now, and they had Kladenets, but Moth's words rang in her head.

 _Daphne._

She couldn't help her. For the first time, Sabrina had to trust Daphne to keep herself safe. Shaking her head, she spun and found Puck and Ariel face to face, breathing heavily. A vein popped in Puck's neck. Ariel's expression was as smooth and unrippled as stone.

"Grimm, how do we get out of here?" Puck muttered out of the side of his mouth, as if he thought that would prevent Ariel from hearing him.

Ariel stepped out of arm's reach of Puck and used his gun as a threat again, this time leveling it at Sabrina's head.

Sabrina tried to say something snarky, but the words caught in her throat as she took her enemy in, the grim line of his mouth, the steadiness of his arm, his finger poised on the trigger.

Her hands started to tremble, but she swallowed her fear and averted her eyes from the black muzzle. _Keep him talking._

"I have a question. If you two want to kill us, why haven't you done it already? Moth's had plenty of opportunities." Her voice wavered on the last sentence.

It was Puck who answered her, his words a snarl. "Because traditionally, the surefire way to the crown of Faerie is to behead the King and Queen in the streets of their Kingdom, in front of witnesses. Moth can't kill us in Russia because then she isn't guaranteed the crown. And you can't kill us in Russia, either."

Hope rose in Sabrina's throat, but it was short lived. Ariel laughed—a deranged noise that made Sabrina's skin crawl. "Oh, yes. But you know what I've realized? If she's not the Queen, then it will make no difference if I kill her now. These bullets have worked wonders on Everafters before."

A soft sound from above them made Ariel look up. While his eyes were averted, Puck jumped in front of Sabrina before she could stop him and spread his arms. "You'll have to go through me first!"

Sabrina watched his arms shake.

Ariel's cold eyes snapped back to them, flickering like a dying light. "You can try to protect her, boy fairy, but you can't shield her from me forever."

"Oh, really?" Puck asked, his voice trembling with anger. "I'll have you know that I've been Sabrina Grimm's bodyguard since she was eleven years old. I've had some practice."

Usually Sabrina would have scolded him for saying something like that, would've reminded him not to fight her battles, but she was frozen with fear and couldn't bring herself to speak.

"And _I've_ shot children while their parents watched," Ariel countered, his voice rising until it rang around the chamber. "I have lived lifetimes that you have not! I know what it means to sacrifice! I know what it means when the game has been played to the end! This is her end! Now step aside, Trickster King!"

"Go to hell," Puck hissed, his fists clenching and unclenching.

Ariel threw his head back, giving them a good view of his molars, and quoted in a roar, " _Hell is empty, and all the demons are here_! Shakespeare gave me that lesson, was he not kind enough to enlighten you, boy? Step aside, I said! You can't save her!"

Eyes narrowing, Ariel moved the gun up and down, looking for a shot. Sabrina was on the verge of hyperventilating, her body tense, waiting for a bullet.

"Hey, Sabrina?" Puck called loudly, as if she wasn't standing right behind him.

"What, Stinkpot?" Sabrina stammered, her heart hammering so hard that it almost hurt.

"Will you be the Queen of Faerie?" Fury twined its way through Puck's sarcastic proposal. A noise, half-laugh and half cry, exploded from Sabrina before she could stop it.

"Sure, I'll be Queen of Faerie," Sabrina yelled, gripping her shirt as if that would someone slow down her heartbeat, and Ariel hissed in response.

Puck shifted his weight and reached behind him to grab her arm. His fingers were clammy. "Oh, would you look at that. Faerie has a Queen, oops. Guess we'll just have to stand here and stare at each other some more. Feel free to lower the gun."

Ariel let out another humorless, deranged laugh. "I'm sure the people of Faerie won't mind if their King is missing a foot when we execute him. Perhaps the new Queen could do without an arm. If I get my shots just right, you probably won't bleed out."

Chills raced down Sabrina's spine. He'd barely finished talking when Puck spun on his heel, grabbed her, and shot up into the cloak of shadows that drenched the ceiling.

" _Puck!_ " Sabrina hissed in his ear, flinching, waiting to hit rock, but the collision didn't come.

He pressed a finger to her lips and flew toward a far corner of the chamber, flapping his wings so slowly that they made almost no noise. They floated near the rock wall, drenched in shadow. Sabrina was terrified to breathe, for fear Ariel would hear.

Forty feet below, Ariel cocked his head, listening. Then he raised the gun and began to fire blindly. Each miniature explosion felt like a punch in the stomach, but the bullets did not fly into their corner. She kept waiting, the darkness pressing on her eyeballs, for Ariel to get lucky.

Puck whispered something.

"What?" she breathed, prompting him to clamp a hand over her mouth.

But the whispering continued, and they both grew still as they realized it was coming from all around them, and not each other.

"King and Queen," the whisper solidified into a phrase right next to Sabrina's ear, and she jumped out of her skin. Puck pulled her closer, as if he was trying to figure out whether this new voice was danger enough to warrant landing.

Another soft voice, this one cool and feminine, manifested on their other side. "Why does the Royal family interrupt our slumber?"

Sabrina remembered what Kiram had said, about fairies being the guardians of the Lost Cave, and wondered for the first time if he was right. Taking a deep breath, she reached a trembling hand over Puck's shoulder and brushed something vaporous. Heart rate spiking, she yanked her hand back and wrapped her arms around Puck's neck, squeezing hard. That was not a fairy, not in any sense she knew.

All around the cavern, the layer of shadows was stirring. She could hear them speaking all over the chamber, and down below, Ariel roared, "Who's there?"

The whispers paid him no heed, did nothing when he fired off another round of bullets into their midst. Sabrina reached down and pinched her leg, hoping desperately that this was a new version of her nightmares, something she could wake up from. Puck's ragged breath was warm on her cheek.

A more gruff voice spoke to Puck and Sabrina, clear against the background of mutters. "Why did you disturb our peace with metal and words?"

The feminine voice from before continued, "We sensed royal blood when you entered, so we let you take the sword."

And a third, this one childish, "But why did you bring with you a murderer?"

"We didn't," Sabrina responded before she could stop herself, her response drowned out by the dull roar of voices around them. She was beginning to feel light-headed. The blood that had caked onto her skin from the cut on her temple made it difficult to speak. Steeling herself, she continued, "He followed us. We're in danger."

As if someone had flipped a switch, the shadows fell silent. Trembling, Sabrina looked down at Ariel, and then at the soundless darkness all around them, straining to make out any silhouettes.

A sharp inhale right behind her made her flinch. "We are the ancient guardians of Faerie. We protect the family."

With that, more inhales from every direction rose into ethereal shrieks. And then, like a swarm of bats, the darkness congealed into shadowy figures of Fae warriors that swooped down on Ariel.

* * *

Daphne stumbled and almost fell upon landing. She'd brought them to a park in New York, for some inane reason, hadn't even thought about where they were going in the urge to escape.

And she had left her sister behind!

 _She had left her sister behind._

Sabrina would die before she left Daphne in a situation like that.

"We have to go back!" Daphne screaming, whirling on her uncle.

"We can't!" Uncle Jake yelled, and then turned and slammed his fist into a tree trunk. He roared and shook his hand, but looked like he was debating doing it again anyways.

Daphne tugged on her braids in distress. Then she saw Kladenets, on the ground where she'd let it slide from her fingers upon landing. _Pull yourself together,_ she told herself. _Don't let your sister down._

"Uncle Jake, we have to go," she stammered, grabbing the sword and the teleporter. "Sabrina sacrificed her safety for this sword. We've got to hide Kladenets."

His eyes widened in understanding and then he was pulling on her arm, pulling her into a jog. "Sabrina and Puck won't know how to trace us, but Moth and Ariel will. Run!"

So they ran, not the light jog of earlier but a full-out sprint, through the trees. Uncle Jake took the sword from Daphne. Thankful to be rid of the heavy weight, she sped up and took the lead down the flat, straight path through the park that she knew so well.

They passed a group of startled mothers with strollers. A couple of them stared at Kladenets in disbelief, but most eyes were drawn to her bloodied and beaten uncle. Before Daphne could figure out where she kept the Forgetful Dust, Uncle Jake yelled between gasps, "We're LARPing! Don't worry about it! Carry on!"

"What," Daphne began, after they were out of earshot. Sucking in air for her burning lungs, she continued, "is a LARP?"

"Live action role play," her uncle replied shortly, looking over his shoulder. "We've got company!"

Moth had the advantage of being Fae, of being faster, and she was gaining ground rapidly while Daphne and Uncle Jake were slowing. Groaning, Daphne and Uncle Jake veered off the path and half-ran, half-skidded down a snowy hill.

He grabbed her arm. "Go, kiddo," he ordered, and Daphne programmed the teleporter for France. They folded in half and half again as bullets sliced through the empty space they'd been taking up moments ago.

They bounced from France to China to California and then back to New York, right on a subway platform. Daphne looked around in fear, worried someone had seen them appear out of thin air, but this was New York, and there were stranger things happening all around them. Keeping their heads down, they boarded a subway car when it came, and Daphne looked out the window just in time to see an agitated Moth materialize. She ducked out of the way when the murderous fairy's eyes swept the train, and then glanced back to see the girl running up the steps that led back into the city.

"We lost her," Daphne breathed, shoulders slumping. Uncle Jake nodded, rubbing his hair, and glanced at the watch on his wrist.

"I don't want to contact them yet," he explained. "Just in case."

Daphne nodded in unhappy agreement and sighed. "At least we have the sword. That should keep them alive for now."

She wished she had more confidence in her words.

"I can't believe this is happening," Uncle Jake muttered.

Daphne nodded, a blanket of misery settling on her. She glanced at the sword and asked, "Where can we hide it?"

"I think we should take it back to Ferryport Landing," Uncle Jake said. He was holding the sword delicately by its hilt, as if he wanted the wicked blade as far away from him as possible. "Relda will know what to do."

The thought of going to Ferryport Landing without Sabrina made a lump form in Daphne's throat. But until they heard from Sabrina and Puck (they would hear from them, Daphne told herself fiercely, they would!) the best way to help them would be to get this damned sword somewhere safe.

So, the corners of her mouth twitching downwards dangerously, she replied, "Yes, good idea."

They stood in numb silence, ignoring the odd looks that the other passengers were giving them, until they got off at a random station, crowded into a handicapped bathroom, and teleported back to the birthplace of the legacy that had blessed and cursed them all.

* * *

"What are they doing to him?" Sabrina hissed, watching Ariel twist and writhe under the pile of shadowy bodies. He cried out in pain, and Sabrina felt a short-lived pang of sympathy before remembering that, if not for these mysterious warriors, they would be horribly mutilated by now.

"Well," Puck began, sarcasm tingeing his words, "If you want to find out, I'd say we have one hell of a show ahead of us."

Sabrina hit him, making him laugh despite the dark situation they were in. She felt it too, the relief, the first realization that they actually had a chance of getting out of this situation alive. "Let's go, Gasbag."

"My wish is your command, Stinkpot," he replied, his voice light, but Sabrina could see his frown even in the dark.

He shot toward the wall they'd come in through, flying right over the small war that was being waged, and landed in the entryway. Sabrina grabbed Puck's hand, pressed her other onto the chilly stone, and said, "We want to leave."

They blurred and smudged into the surrounding air, reappearing on the outside of the cliff. Sabrina found herself breathing in deeply, as if there hadn't been enough air in the cavern to sustain her. Her wounds stung in the cold.

She whirled to face Puck, intending to speak but somehow ending up wrapped in his arms. They clung to each other, gasping for air, and despite what they had just been through Sabrina felt so safe in his arms that it took her a long moment to realize they might still be in danger.

"Do you think they're going to kill him?" she asked finally, pulling back to look at him.

"Your guess is as good as mine. Well, actually, my guess is probably better, since I'm me," he replied with a smirk, but then his expression grew serious. "You're still bleeding."

He raised a hand to her temple but did not touch the wound. Sabrina grimaced. "Never mind that. We have to get out of here before he follows us. He could still be alive, we have no idea what's going on in there."

Tensing, Puck pressed his fingers against the cliff as if confirming it was solid and then pushed off the ground, flying low as they crossed the field.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

Sabrina began to answer him and then stopped, realizing she didn't know. They hadn't planned for this, to be stuck in Russia without Uncle Jake and Daphne. The other two had the tent and most of the food and supplies. All Sabrina had in her pack was some money, a few granola bars, and a basic first aid kit.

"We should find somewhere safe to stay until we can reach the others," she said finally. "So back to that village, I guess."

Puck craned his neck to look back at the cliff for signs of Ariel and almost slammed them into a tree in the process. He smirked in response to the scowl Sabrina gave him and then tilted his head down and pressed his lips to hers as they wove between the pines.

"What?" he asked, seeing the look on her face. "We're allowed to do that now, right?"

Sabrina realized she was gaping at him and closed her mouth. "No, I just—what was that for?"

"Making it out alive," he replied, and then dipped his head to do it again.

Her heart pounding, Sabrina said, "Pay attention! We didn't make it this far to smash into a tree!"

She was beginning to feel dizzy, but whether that was from the wound or the kisses, she didn't know. Either way, it was a relief when Puck stopped on the top of a rise that dropped into the village and her feet touched the ground.

Sabrina eyed him critically, taking in the bruises and scrapes, the drying blood in his hair that was probably hers, and imagined she looked a hundred times worse. Exhaustion weighed on her bones. Far in the distance, the sun was beginning to set.

Walking into town like this was a stupid idea, but the sense of urgency—the question that hung over their heads, _was Ariel alive and following them?_ —made Puck and Sabrina pull their hoods a little farther down their foreheads and half-walk, half-run down the rise. Wrapping her scarf around the rest of her face to conceal the bloodbath that was her cheek, Sabrina kept her head down as their boots hit pavement. Puck wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Sabrina wrapped hers around his waist, leaning into him for support as they strode down the unfamiliar street, trying to look nonchalant, like they belonged and were not in pain of any sort.

After a few minutes they came across a small and decrepit inn, tucked between a bakery and a warehouse. They stopped on the street outside of the inn, half-hidden among parked cars, and went through their things, pulling out whatever money they could find. They were running so low on the translator potion that only Puck drank it, as Sabrina figured that it would be better in the long run to have some left over in case they were stuck in Russia for multiple days.

"Ready?" she muttered under her breath, pulling Puck toward the door of the inn as a mother and her two boys left the bakery and headed toward the car he'd been leaning against.

A small crease appeared between Puck's eyebrows. He adjusted her scarf a bit where it had slipped down and then led the way inside.

Sabrina listened, unable to understand anything as Puck spoke to the man at the front desk. It didn't bode well with her that it was taking Puck so long to get a room. Instead of speaking, she nodded in confirmation whenever the employee looked at her, trying to maintain the illusion that she had complete control of the situation she was in.

Finally, the man handed over a key with the number eight taped on it and gestured down a dark hallway, throwing a comment over his shoulder as he turned away from them that made Puck force out a laugh.

"What was that about?" Sabrina muttered once they were shut inside a small room that boasted a boarded-up window, a smoke detector that dangled from its cord, one bed with a fraying comforter, and a moth-eaten chair.

Puck ripped off his hat and unzipped his coat. "I asked if he had rooms with two beds, and he said no, and then asked me if we were having problems in our _marriage_. A common theme today."

With a scoff, he threw the coat on the chair and began to dig in his backpack.

Sabrina crossed her arms, her blood pressure rising. "What did you say?"

His brilliant eyes met hers for a moment before traveling back to the first aid kit he'd dug out. "I told him we were not married, and then he asked why we were sharing a room, and I told him we were very tired and would appreciate the key, already."

Groaning, Sabrina pinched the bridge of her nose and reached around Puck to lock the door.

"Why can't everyone just mind their own business? Having a nosy innkeeper isn't good, you know. If Ariel comes here, I'm sure he'll get an earful about us," she said, turning on the light in the tiny bathroom and stepping up to the counter to assess the damages. All thoughts of Ariel were driven from her mind as she stared at herself, floored.

The cut on her temple had finally stopped bleeding, but it had painted the entire left half of her face a reddish-brown. Part of her eyebrow was wiry and thick with dried blood, and her cheek and chin were crusty. The old cut from the Kuli-Baba was obscured in fresher blood. A faint bruise was starting at her hairline on the other side of her head, just visible under her blonde hair. Another bruise, this one a nasty green, bloomed at her jaw where Moth had punched her. And worst of all, there was a pink scratch across her throat, festooned in dried beads of red.

She looked like she'd stumbled off the set of a horror movie. It was laughable, really, that it would have been better in every way if she had.

Leaning against the counter, she inspected the cut, deep and swollen. Lightheadedness tried to sweep her sideways and she clutched the fake marble to keep herself upright.

"Got anything to heal cuts out there?" she called, and Puck appeared behind her, holding a small tube.

He unscrewed the cap. "This either does that, or is sunscreen. Want to experiment?"

Sabrina scowled at his reflection and turned around, grabbing the tube from him. It smelled like raw sewage and was an offensive orange color. "This isn't sunscreen, idiot."

Snatching it back, Puck replied, "It could be. For science!"

And then, before Sabrina could protest, he'd squeezed some out and dabbed it on her forehead.

"Hey!" Sabrina ducked under his arm and emerged behind him. "Since when do you care about science?"

"Since it means putting mystery substances on your face!"

She rolled her eyes but didn't answer, distracted by an intense tingling in her temple. It was almost like the feeling she got in her mouth while chewing exceptionally minty gum, and she moved back to the counter below the mirror, watching in shock as the mystery paste was absorbed into her skin, leaving it whole and unscarred.

"Where was this stuff a few days ago?" she complained, touching the new skin in awe.

Puck was covering the cuts on his face and arms. "Jake and I switched first aid kits this morning. Oh no, tingly."

He backed away from the counter, holding his arms far away from his body, frowning.

It took so long to clean themselves up that the cracks between the boards on the window were dark when Sabrina emerged from the bathroom, toweling her hair. She had been so dizzy that it had taken longer than it should have to wash her hair, and at one point she'd blinked and been unable to open her eyes again for several seconds. After all the blood she'd lost today and all the stress, she knew she needed to sleep, but adrenaline was still coursing through her veins, as if some primal part of her expected another attack.

Puck was sitting on the end of the bed, chewing on the end of a pen as he stared at a half-written note on a crumpled piece of paper.

"I talked to Jake," he said without looking up. "Him and Daphne are both fine, they shook off Moth and everything, but they're still on the run. I told him that we would be fine for the night and he should make hiding Kladenets a priority, so we're stuck here for a while."

"We've survived worse," Sabrina joked hollowly, dropping down beside him. Her vision swam. It was a relief to sit down. "What's that?"

"Writing to Mustardseed," Puck replied, giving her a concerned look. "Trying to explain that Moth is coming back without giving too much away. I don't want him to like, raise an army or something. He tends to overreact."

Sabrina scanned the letter, written in sloppy handwriting, and was almost surprised to see her name.

"Puck," she began, and then summoned her courage and asked the question that had been nagging her. "Why did you pick me? For the successor thing."

He was silent for a moment, and at first Sabrina thought he wasn't going to answer her.

"Mother called me back to Faerie a year or so ago to write my will and when we got to the Successor Clause she said, _pick someone, and it had better not be that Grimm girl_ , so I basically had no choice." He put the pen down, his eyes sparkling with mirth, and shook a finger, raising his voice to imitate a crotchety old woman, which in another situation Sabrina would have pointed out that Titania was not. Instead she watched him, sensing that he was not done and afraid of where he was going.

After a moment he picked up the pen again and twirled it between his fingers absently. "But that didn't make any sense to me, because if Faerie did fall apart, no one else I know would be able to pull it back together. Plus you want to be a legal thing, so you'd have probably dealt with kingdoms falling apart before. But the Successor Clause has never been put into use and never will, so it doesn't matter."

"Lawyer," Sabrina corrected him, her head pounding even harder as she took in the meaning of what he was saying. Like most things concerning their relationship, this move seemed to have been a partial prank and a partial show of trust. "And you had better not die on me, because there is no possible situation where I'll have had experience pulling kingdoms back together. Or with kingdoms in general."

"You _are_ the fake Queen of Faerie," Puck pointed out, his mouth curving into a smirk. "That probably counts." His knee tapped hers.

She snorted, rubbing the unhurt half of her face in exasperation. "Oh, my God, never tell Daphne."

They looked at each other and Sabrina found herself trapped in his gaze, her heart suddenly loud in her ears.

"Why'd you do it?" she asked, but was unsure he would know what she was talking about and followed up with, "Make me the fake Queen of Faerie, I mean."

"He said that I couldn't save you, and when is anyone ever right about that?" Puck replied, his eyes wide and soft. Sabrina guessed this was supposed to come out as a joke, but he seemed to be just as caught up in her as she was in him, and instead sounded rather endearing.

Sabrina swallowed. It was difficult to ignore the feeling of his knee, which was now resting against hers.

She tried to regain control anyways. "You don't have to pretend to make me Queen to save me. I'm capable of fighting."

"Well, duh," he replied, as if it were obvious. "But I wasn't just going to stand there and watch him…let him…"

He trailed off and looked down at his unfinished note, his hand clenching into a fist around the pen. Sabrina reached out and uncurled his fingers, sliding hers between his, and heard the pen hit the carpet.

"I know," she replied, the words more of a sigh than a sentence, because she would have done the same thing, had the roles been reversed. It was the way they were.

She was so lost in thought that the feeling of Puck's mouth on hers was almost a surprise. The kiss was soft and unsteady at first, and then Sabrina leaned into him, running her fingers through his damp curls. He sighed against her lips, shifting to pull her closer, his hands trailing patterns across her back.

His mouth moved down to her neck and then back up to swallow her soft gasp. There was a sort of intensity in the way he kissed her, the way his hands moved across her body, as if he feared Ariel would appear any moment and rip them apart.

But nothing interrupted the velvet silence around them as they moved to places they'd never been together, and Sabrina marveled at how they could be both tentative and sure of themselves and each other all at once. Her body came alive at his touch, and Sabrina forgot all about the fact that they were half a world away from everything that was familiar, the fact that they were hunted and trapped. It was hard to feel lost when Puck felt, in the best and worst ways, like home.

And then Sabrina's temple pulsed painfully and she sat up with a jolt, clenching her teeth to stop herself from crying out. Puck squeezed her side gently.

"I think I need to sleep," she groaned, blinking stars out of her vision.

Puck's hand brushed her back, sending shivers up her spine. "I can take the floor."

"Don't be ridiculous," she replied lightly, rubbing her temples. "We've been sleeping next to each other on the floor this entire trip. This isn't that different."

And, not that she would ever admit it, but after the horrors of the Lost Cave, Sabrina was more afraid of her nightmares than she ever had been, and did not want to be alone.

So they slept with the light on and the moth-eaten chair jammed under the door handle, curled together under the covers. Sabrina had thought that falling asleep after the events of the day would be difficult, but she barely had time to register the fact that sleeping in a bed with someone was, in fact, different than the being next to them on the floor, when she felt exhaustion weigh down her limbs. Her head felt heavy on Puck's shoulder.

The last thing Sabrina remembered was the soft brush of Puck's lips on her cheek, his sigh against her ear, and then she slipped into an uneasy sleep, full of fragmented nightmares and ghostly warriors.

* * *

Moth ran up the concrete steps to the surface of the city, trembling with rage. An odd sense of loss was filling the hollows in her chest. At the top of the stairs, she looked around, searching for the faint glimmer that the teleportation machinery of the Grimm family left behind.

No sign of them. The stinking humans jostled her, rushing about their business, some giving her dirty looks for standing still in the middle of the sidewalk, others staring in shock at her bloodied skin. She glared back, had half a mind to yell, when it suddenly hit her like a new punch in the stomach—she was home. For the first time in six years, she was home.

Moth staggered under the physical weight of loss, sucking in air through her closing throat.

"Pull yourself together," she snapped, attracting a confused glance from a small child being pulled along by her mother. Shaking her head, Moth joined the throng of clueless mortals, pulling her hood low as she went but keeping her eyes up. If any Everafters loyal to Faerie saw her, she would have to be ready to fight. Funny how you could long for a place that wished only for your head on a pole.

All she needed was to walk, walking would make the hole in her chest close. Of course, she should get back to Ariel, but the idea of returning to him empty-handed did not bode well with her stomach. They were already behind schedule.

It had seemed easy enough. Moth had eyes everywhere in her territory, had known the moment her vile ex-fiancé had landed with the human filth he hung around. Within days she had learned that they were searching for the Lost Cave. It had been a stroke of luck, really, since she and Ariel had been plotting for months to open it, lining up the cards. They'd had the advantage, had known that all they needed was to watch quietly for an in. But she and Ariel were common in the way of impatience.

And capturing the King and Queen—also simple, as they were traveling with humans. Humans were weak. And the beheading. Child's play, with the aid of Kladenets and Ariel by her side, who had enough blood on his hands that two more lives wouldn't make much of a difference. The Fair Folk were traditional, Moth knew that once the currently Royal Family was dead, they would fall into new leadership with little complaint, as long as she had a King. She didn't love Ariel, not really, but he was capable of ruling and she thought she could love him, someday.

Moth didn't believe in luck or fate, and she didn't believe that they'd lost their chance. Calm enough now, she followed a random human into a random building, keeping her head down as they unlocked the door and held it for her. Curling her lip as the stench of too many mortals living in close proximity, Moth scanned the lobby and located the door to the stairwell.

Of course, now there was the small matter that the Grimm girl was not, in fact, Queen. Moth rubbed her forehead, again biting down a simmering rage. They might be unmarried, but that didn't change the fact that the brat had stolen Moth's crown. Her cheeks warmed as she pictured the way _he_ looked at her, had always looked at her.

And she was in his will. At least that fact justified her death in the place of Queen.

Moth pounded up the staircase, mindlessly traveling up flight after flight. Her time in Russia had made her lean and strong. She could run miles, fly for hours, and negotiate deals with men who could wrap a single hand around her neck and end her life with a gentle squeeze. Yes, she was superior to them both. They would carry on with the plan.

Ten stories later, she reached a door that said _ROOF_ and pushed it open, hardly winded. A sharp breeze stung her cheek where the human girl had hit her, but Moth ignored the small amount of pain.

She strode to the center of the roof, head held high. Then she raised her pan pipes to her lips and blew, staring impassively out over New York, tapping a foot as she waited.

The pixies came, of course, they always did. They were stupid things, really, either didn't notice that she had been banished or were too afraid of her to ignore her calling.

With them clustered around her in a cloud of twittering pink, Moth knew she looked the part of the Queen.

More than that Grimm girl ever could.

"Find Kladenets," she commanded, her voice wavering with old anger that had aged her more than years ever could. "Bring me Kladenets."

 **A/N: This was a fun chapter to write. The idea of Ariel terrifies me, honestly, but writing him is a challenge in the best way. I hope he came across okay. Moth too—I couldn't resist writing a part of this chapter from her POV. And then P & S, of course, as they try to navigate this week-long deal they made. **

**If you have time, please let me know what you thought! I'm dying to know how this is coming across. Thanks for reading and Happy 2017!**

 **Guest review:**

 **Guest (12/23/16): Thank you!**


	9. The Curse of Mortality

"Any word from Uncle Jake and Daphne?" Sabrina asked when she emerged from the bathroom.

They'd only been up for about an hour. Puck, hearing the twittering of pixies outside the window, had woken up first to deal with them, but Sabrina, who felt like death because of the Lost Cave experience, had simply rolled into the warm spot his body had left behind and fallen back to sleep. Puck, naturally, had then started to read the letter from Mustardseed. Sabrina knew it was from Mustardseed only because Puck had chosen to read aloud, as if he was leading storytime at a local library instead of standing in a room with someone who was trying to sleep.

Despite Sabrina's grumbling, he'd carried on for two out of the three pages of Mustardseed's letter, so she had no choice but to get up and remember how to function. Once she was standing, Puck had fallen mercifully silent.

"No, they haven't reached out to us yet," Puck answered from where he was leaning against the wall, eating one of their last granola bars. He checked his watch. "It's eight now. Midnight there, I think. It should be soon."

Sabrina shivered in the chill that hadn't snuck into the room the night before. Thin bars of morning light striped the ceiling above her, casting brilliance on a small and dingy room that was otherwise swathed in gray. While she'd been brushing her teeth, Puck had changed, which made Sabrina realize she was still in her pajamas.

Suddenly and inexplicably self-conscious, Sabrina crossed her arms over chest.

"Good," she breathed. "I don't want them to know that—"

She cut herself off, suddenly unsure where she was going, of what she did and didn't want to keep from them. It was difficult to judge where the important information ended and the private details of her life began, and everything seemed so tangled that she wasn't sure how they would be able to explain one thing without the other.

"I was thinking," Puck began, raising his arms over his head to stretch. A tiny shower of granola crumbs rained down on the floor.

"Thinking! Someone call the police," Sabrina replied, earning a scowl. She wandered over to her backpack and bent down, sifting through it to look for clothing for the day.

"Whether or not Moth gets her hands on Kladenets, I'm going to have to go after her. And Ariel. They'll have to be subdued, they can't be allowed to just run around the world and wreak havoc."

The slim beams of light had turned his hair to gold, and he looked like royalty even as he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

Sabrina paused, one hand in her backpack. "They'll just keep coming back," she agreed, and thought about how strange it was to side with Puck on something.

"Mustardseed says he's going to come get us. So, I was thinking that we'll drop you off at Ferryport Landing, and then I'll take Kladenets and go find them," Puck continued, abandoning the granola bar wrapper on the nightstand and wandering over to her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sabrina snapped, jumping to her feet, the change of clothes she'd been pulling together lying forgotten on the floor. " _You'll_ go find them? What about me!"

"It's too dangerous," he replied, sounding stoic and ridiculous. "You could get hurt."

Sabrina scowled. "It _is_ dangerous! If I hadn't stayed behind in the Lost Cave, then who knows if you'd still be alive right now?"

Puck went still and said, his voice maddeningly calm, "If I have Kladenets, I'll be fine."

"Maybe, but maybe not!" Sabrina was aware of the fact that her voice was rising, but did little to stop it. "You're immortal but you're not invincible, Puck!"

His bright eyes darkened. "Neither are you! There's no reason to put yourself in danger!"

"Look, Puck," Sabrina snapped, striding toward him. "You can't stop me from coming with you. This is my fight too and there is no way you're leaving me behind."

He cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. With a rippling noise, his wings appeared, filling the room and making it feel even smaller. "You wanna bet?"

Sabrina faltered, and the collected herself. "If you won't fly me, I'll follow you on the ground. Yelling. Loudly."

Puck's features betrayed his fear for a brief moment as he seemed to realize she was serious. "They used you to get to me," he said finally.

"And then they used you to get to me! They want me dead, too," Sabrina pointed out. "I've got a target on my back, too. It makes more sense for us to stay together than to split up."

They stared at each other for a long minute, sizing each other up.

"What I have planned is dangerous," Puck said finally. The bars of light on the ceiling had shifted. Dust motes danced around them.

"Sounds like you could use a partner, then," Sabrina shot back, unblinking.

"You're crazy, Grimm, you know that?" he muttered after a minute, and Sabrina felt her stomach tingle.

"Yeah, I've been told that before," Sabrina replied, shifting her weight from one foot to another. The air felt much heavier than it had a moment ago.

And then a loud crackling noise made them both jump, and Puck looked at his wrist in alarm.

"Uh, hello?" he asked it, and then said to Sabrina, "It's not usually that loud."

"Puck!" The voice was definitely Uncle Jake's, although it sounded sort of like he was standing in the worst part of a hurricane.

"Jake?" Puck asked, bewildered. "Are you at the beach? Or in a wind tunnel?"

"Just checking in to—wait, what?"

Impatient to talk about something that actually mattered, Sabrina took a step closer to Puck and said to the watch, "Where are you guys?"

"Your grandmother's house," Uncle Jake replied, as the static finally diminished to a bearable level. "We fed them some story about dropping you two off with your parents, although we really need to get you back here, because once your parents show up this afternoon, we'll have some explaining to do."

Oh, right. Christmas at Granny Relda's. In the insanity of the past few days, Sabrina had forgotten that today, two days before Christmas Eve, was the day they were supposed to be done with this mission and traveling to New York.

"Where's Kladenets?" Puck asked.

"We've hidden it in the bottom of the pond in your room, act—" Uncle Jake replied, another burst of static drowning out the rest of his sentence. "That's the other thing, we really need to figure out a more secure hiding spot, because it's getting more and more difficult to explain why Daphne and I are spending so much time in your room."

"My room?" Puck echoed.

"Yeah, we like it here," Daphne piped up, and even though she'd known she was okay, hearing her sister's cheerful voice made Sabrina so weak at the knees that she sat down hard on the bed. "We've been planning. Where are you?"

From this new vantage point, Sabrina's gaze was drawn to the door of the room, to the moth-eaten chair pushed under the door handle, to the carpeting beneath the chair.

To the piece of paper lying innocently on the floor. At exactly the right spot to indicate it had been pushed under the door into their room.

In a moment she was back on her feet, thinking at first that it was some correspondence between Puck and Mustardseed that the ludicrous pixies had returned to them as a joke. She dropped to a crouch and flipped it over.

 _He's alive and able to track you. Any peace you get is because he willed it._

 _-Maria_

An iron fist crushed her lungs and Sabrina struggled to breathe as she stared at the narrow, slanting handwriting. Why was the name familiar? Rubbing her forehead, her brain offered up the image of the Valkyrie with olive-green eyes in the bar, who had warned her. That moment seemed like a lifetime ago.

It made sense that she knew about Ariel. Sabrina thought back to her warning at the bar, the warning that she was in more danger than she realized.

But Sabrina was a little surprised that she'd chosen this moment to reach out to her. She'd assumed that Moth was the bigger threat to her, while Ariel was the bigger threat to—

"—Puck, you can't possibly think we're going to let you two hunt down Moth and Ariel alone!" Daphne cried hotly.

"It was going to be just me, but Grimm insisted," Puck replied, as if that would help their case.

"Sabrina!" yelled Daphne, but Sabrina could not take her eyes off the slip of paper she was staring at.

The Valkryie had reached out to her, not Puck, so what was going on? Her heart throwing itself against her ribcage, Sabrina got to her feet and struggled to put the pieces together.

"Well, we just won't tell you our location, then," Puck was saying, sounding a lot like his younger self.

"We have Kladenets and you have no other way to get out of Russia," Daphne argued.

Puck caught Sabrina's eye and mouthed, _Do I tell them about Mustardseed?_

Alarm bells ringing in her ears, Sabrina shook her head vigorously.

"'Brina, I suppose you're on board with this?" Uncle Jake asked.

"Yes," Sabrina replied.

"Listen, you really shouldn't do that," Daphne demanded out of nowhere. "I've been reading up on Ariel, and what I've found is absolutely absurd."

"More absurd than wanting to decapitate us?" Puck muttered.

He hadn't seemed to think that Daphne would hear him, but Daphne scoffed through the poor connection and replied, "Shakespeare wrote him as a merciful, kind-hearted servant who went out of his way to make sure _no one got hurt_ when he did his job, not the enemy, not his master, not the innocent bystanders, no one."

Silence followed her declaration, as no one seemed to know how to answer her. Drawing a breath, Daphne continued, "In the beginning of his story, a witch trapped him in a tree because he refused to do her evil bidding. When Prospero let him and made him his servant, Ariel willingly did everything he asked because he was promised freedom, which he got. This is the only story he's in."

"He was merciful?" Sabrina repeated blankly, remembering the pleasure he'd taken at the idea of dismembering them.

"And literally chose imprisonment over wreaking havoc, yeah," Daphne clarified.

"Wimp," Puck muttered.

"So the question," Uncle Jake began thoughtfully. "Would be, what the hell happened between now and then?"

"Or," Sabrina continued, cold as the thought struck her. "What else did Moth promise him?"

Puck began to speak, and his voice snapped her out of her frantic thoughts.

"Thanks for the tidbit, Marshmallow, but we've really got to be going. Lots to do," he said into the watch, a small smirk on his face as he probably realized that there was no way for Daphne and Uncle Jake to stop them.

Sabrina snapped to get his attention, held out the note from Maria, and mouthed, _We're being tracked._

The smirk slid off of Puck's face and he looked at the window and then all around the room as if he was searching for something.

Uncle Jake's voice developed an edge that sounded ominous amongst the static. "And why, exactly, are you two determined to do this alone? Puck, I know you think this is dangerous, but I've spent my entire life handling dangerous situations."

But Puck was shaking his head, as if Uncle Jake could see him. "No, Jake, this is different. You're a human and a Grimm, so you really can't meddle in the affairs of the ancient Faerie court. Ugly and I have leverage—they need to kill us in a specific way, in a specific place, at a specific time. You and Marshmallow would be collateral. They'd kill you without batting an eyelash."

Sabrina raised an eyebrow, torn between wanting to throw an insult back at him and shocked by how thought-out and rational his words had been. And he was right—not that she would ever say that out loud—but her family would die if they came. At first she'd mainly been worried for Daphne, since she was younger and inexperienced, but it seemed like even Uncle Jake would be a hindrance on the final leg of this mission. Sabrina sighed. One more box on the mental checklist that she hadn't even known was there.

Daphne's voice dissolved into static and then reformed. "No! You can't do this alone! Come to Ferryport Landing! We'll go from there!"

"Kids, what is your location?" Uncle Jake demanded.

But Puck and Sabrina were staring at each other, teetering on the edge of a million bad decisions.

"We're not kids anymore," Puck replied, lifting his watch to his mouth, his eyes lingering on Sabrina's face. "You said it yourself. This is our best chance."

"Don't follow us, okay?" Sabrina demanded, the paper in her hand growing slick from sweat. "Stay where it's safe! We can handle this!"

Man, did she wish she had more confidence in her own words.

Uncle Jake's voice emerged from the dull roar of a poor connection. "Puck!"

"Jake, come on, this is something I have to do," Puck replied, his jaw set.

Uncle Jake took a shaky breath. " _Damn_ it, Puck! This is insane!"

"Why?" Puck replied hotly. "It's something you would do!"

A pregnant pause stretched out on the other side of the line. And then her uncle, sounding defeated, asked, "What happens if you need help?

Fear flickered through the green of Puck's eyes. "I'll call you. Always will."

"Uncle Jake!" Daphne hissed through the watch. "We can't let them do this! Sabrina! Tell them!"

But all Sabrina could hear was Moth, threatening to kill her sister, and all she could picture was Ariel, drawing ever nearer. She curled her shaking fingers into her palm, pressing crescent moons into skin with her nails. "Daphne, this is the right decision. I'll see you soon."

"Sabrina!" Daphne shrieked. "I'll tell Mom!"

"Then you'll just put her in danger," Sabrina replied, her voice oddly cool and detached, as if she was explaining a math problem in front of a class. The tone masked the sudden flashback—Sabrina and Daphne curled on their parent's bed, waiting for the moment they would return, the moment that never came, and she felt fear seize her. "Daphne, _don't_."

Silence followed. Daphne's voice was small and defeated, and Sabrina thought maybe she hadn't hidden her emotions as well as she'd thought. "Okay."

Sabrina closed her eyes, breathed in, and breathed out the memory. She wasn't nine anymore, she told herself.

"Listen, if anyone—but especially Henry—asks, I am not okay with this! But if you really are going to do this, then you have to tell us what your plan is so that someone's aware of where you are." Uncle Jake asked in an effort to regain control as the Lead Adult In Charge. "Oh, no, someone just knocked on the door! We'll call you back soon. _Don't to anything stupid until then,_ savvy?"

The obnoxious crackling died to nothingness, and Puck and Sabrina were alone again. Sabrina took a deep breath and bent down to pick up the clothes she'd dropped.

"Okay, we've got to get out of here and do all of the stupid things before they stop talking to whoever just knocked on your door," Sabrina said, and then paused. "There's a weird sentence."

And then a man sprouted into existence behind Puck, as if he'd grown from the ground like a mutant plant.

"Watch out!" Sabrina yelled, grabbing Puck's arm and pulling him toward her.

Puck spun around in alarm, and then laughed a laugh full of mirth, throwing his head back and stepping forward to embrace the person who had just violated the unwritten rules of doors and windows. The stranger grinning back at him was almost his look-alike, but his blonde hair was cropped shorter and his eyes were a solemn blue that contrasted the sparkle in Puck's green ones. He was also taller by several inches, and dressed in a leather jacket and jeans that were nicer and cleaner than anything Puck owned.

 _"Mustardseed_?" Sabrina gasped, hugging her clothes to her chest as if that would hide the fact that she was still in her pajamas.

"Hello, Sabrina," Mustardseed replied, his voice deep and rich. He broke away from his brother and extended a hand to her. Frowning, she shook it. She'd watched Puck grow up over the years, had known that he was growing, but had never thought about Mustardseed and had just assumed that he would remain eleven or at least look younger than Puck, since he was.

But no, Mustardseed had at least three human years on them. It took too long for her tired brain to figure out how it was possible for him to surpass Puck in physical age, and she only realized she was gawking at him when Puck cleared his throat pointedly.

"Sorry," Sabrina said, shaking her head. "No one told me you were growing, that's all."

Mustardseed smiled, some of the sparkle that Sabrina had been looking for lighting up his eyes. "It's hard to run a kingdom when you're eleven. Sorry for the fright. Did Puck not tell you I was coming?"

"I did!" Puck protested.

"He didn't tell me you were coming _now_ ," Sabrina grumbled, punching Puck in the arm. "But thanks for bailing us out. I don't know how much he told you, but we've got a crazed fairy on our tail and we really need to get out of here."

She went to change, and as she was closing the bathroom door, heard Mustardseed say mockingly to his brother, "So, you've picked a Queen? What was it like to learn about that from Moth?"

* * *

To say that Granny Relda was upset was an understatement.

Daphne didn't think she'd ever seen her this way before. The kind old lady was fuming, her bright blue hat askew on her hair. She marched down the hallway with remarkable speed and the abashed duo of Uncle Jake and Daphne in tow. Red poked her head out of her bedroom door to investigate the noise, and then she and Tobias silently joined the procession. Daphne spotted two yoga mats inside Red's room

 _Yoga,_ Daphne thought inanely. _We were hiding a super-deadly sword in a magical indoor forest that belongs to an ancient fairy in order to protect said fairy and my immortal sister, and they were doing yoga._

How odd her life was.

Usually such thoughts would give her a fierce thrill of excitement, but seeing her grandmother in this state really reinforced why her father had been so adamant about keeping the family away from the world of Everafters. Plus, she was still so _pissed_ at Sabrina for being an idiot, for thinking she could take on Moth and Ariel without help.

And Daphne didn't like to swear, not even minorly. But this situation deserved it.

Granny Relda flung open the door to Mirror's old room—it now housed the library, that had expanded over the years, as well as a few pull-out couches for guests—and ushered them all inside. She didn't even blink at Tobias and Red's sudden appearance.

"Sit," she commanded, and they all did. Red, who had to have no idea what was going on and had to know she wasn't in trouble, looked nervous. Daphne squeezed her hand and her friend squeezed back, brushing auburn hair out of her eyes. She was around thirteen now, a bit younger than Daphne, but still growing. Daphne remembered Red telling her that she did want to be older, but wanted to take her growing slowly and enjoy each age.

Across the room, Granny Relda had taken to frantically searching through the tall bookshelf of family journals. She'd walked in on them huddled around a battered copy of Ariel's story, _The Tempest._ Since Uncle Jake was just as bad of a liar as Daphne, and as they were both agitated from the conversation with Sabrina and Puck, neither of them had been able to convince her that everything was fine.

So she'd picked up the book to identify it and read the note Daphne had made at the bottom of a page. And then, to Daphne's alarm, the usual rosy glow had drained from her cheeks and she'd said, in a very deliberate voice that was almost hoarse, "Why were you reading up on Ariel?"

Daphne had cracked. Fear for her sister and fear of her grandmother, who for the first time looked like the kind of woman who would hang ancient tribal masks and swords over her bed, had caused her to spill.

She'd told Granny Relda everything, how they split up from Puck and Sabrina to get the Lost Cave open faster, had encountered first Moth and then Ariel, learned about the murderous plot the two had cooked up involving Puck and Sabrina, escaped with Kladenets from the Lost Cave, and how the two teenagers were refusing help.

"Oh, _lieblings_ , why didn't you tell me?" Granny Relda had cried when she was finished, throwing her hands in the air (and effectively upsetting the hat on her head). Then she turned on her son. "Tangling with Ariel is the worst possible thing you could have done! Jacob, what were you thinking? Once you'd caught wind of the danger, you should have brought the children straight home!"

Uncle Jake shrank back like a schoolboy who had been scolded. "I don't…I didn't think that…had to help…"

"He was thinking, 'we are Grimms, and this is what we do,'" Daphne had argued. Her grandmother looked at her in shock, and Daphne was sure her face held the same expression. She had never snapped at Granny Relda before. That was Sabrina's territory. Although part of Daphne immediately wanted to apologize, she barreled onward. "All of us, but especially Sabrina and Puck, are in danger and would been in danger whether or not we went after the Lost Cave when we did. We're lucky, really, to have found out about all this."  
Granny Relda's expression hardened, and she pulled Daphne to her feet. "Follow me," she said, extending a hand to Uncle Jake next. "Let's go figure out how to help those two."

So now Daphne was hastily filling Tobias and Red in on the situation while Granny Relda searched. Red snorted behind her hand when Daphne mentioned that Moth had assumed that Puck and Sabrina were married, and Daphne broke from the urgency of the story to go, "I know, right!"

Loudly. Tobias and Granny Relda both gave her strained looks, although Daphne caught Uncle Jake's smirk before he rearranged his features.

Finally Granny Relda pulled an old journal from the third shelf from the bottom and turned to them, flipping through delicate pages.

"And now they're refusing to tell us where they are in Russia, we have no idea where Ariel and Moth are but we know they're still targeting them, and they're insisting that it's too dangerous for us to help them," Uncle Jake finished for her, and then resumed chewing on his thumbnail. He sat on the far end of the couch, one ankle crossed over the other leg, his foot jigging in the air over Tobias's thigh. Daphne wondered how seriously he'd taken Granny Relda's accusations.

"But we have to do something, don't we?" Red asked, her hand still in Daphne's.

"Of course," Granny Relda replied distractedly. "We'll do everything we can. If Moth thinks she can hurt my grandchildren, she has another thing coming."

Tobias, the only one who was still moderately calm, pointed out, "We have Kladenets. That upsets the girl fairy's plan. The best thing to do would be to bring Sabrina and Puck home."

"They won't come," Uncle Jake replied sourly. "Finally claiming to be adults, and whatnot."

"Teenagers," Tobias scoffed.

"I know, right?" Uncle Jake groaned.

"Even if we bring them back, they'll still be in danger," Daphne argued. "We have to go back to New York eventually, and Sabrina will be vulnerable there. Actually, we all will be. Wait, what about my parents and Basil? They could try to use them as leverage!"

Daphne sat up straight, grabbing the arm of the couch.

"Both Moth and Ariel have been parentless for so long that I doubt the thought even crossed their minds," Granny Relda said gently. "But I'll contact Veronica anyway, just in case. Don't worry, _liebling,_ there's no reason to believe they're in danger."

Red put a calming hand on Daphne's arm and Daphne sank back into the cushions, her heart thudding. She watched her grandmother's eyes scan the page of the journal.

"Granny," Daphne began after she'd recovered. "How do you know so much about Ariel?"

Looking up from the journal, Granny Relda replied in an oddly affected voice, "Your grandfather met him twice."

Across the couch, Uncle Jake's foot went still. "What?"

With a soft sigh, Granny Relda slid the journal across the table to him. Uncle Jake had frozen completely, though, so it was Tobias who reached out and scooped it up, holding it delicately in his weathered hands.

Red and Daphne leaned in as he read aloud.

 _February 6_ _th_ _, 1957_

 _I spent a few days in a nameless village in the Forbidden North, a frigid area in Russia where many Everafters reside, all whom were exiled or else removed themselves from society. They have an odd kind of community structure here. None of them live anywhere obvious, like a house. In fact, I saw only mortal residencies when I stopped by the town center and if I had to guess I'd say that the Everafters here hide their homes on purpose. There's a meeting-place, sort of like a shopping mall but dingier and smaller, where they meet to socialize and do business. Walking among them there was exhilarating. Some of them simply radiate danger._

 _I've been going by the last name of Smith. I feel that it would be unwise to advertise my heritage in a place like this. The Everafters here carry swords and guns openly, and I've met only a handful of mortals. I presume others were scared away by said swords and guns._

 _Each Everafter has his own secrets that he refuses to relinquish, although there is one man in particular who has fascinated me. His name is Ariel and he is one of the Fair Folk, although I have never met a fairy like him. He is brilliant and kind but also very fierce in what he believes in. One of the only Everafters around willing to have a conversation with a human stranger. I asked him why he wasn't living in Faerie, and he told me that he'd never really believed in the concept of a monarchy and that he prefers to live freely, to travel, and is currently living in Greece. What an ingenious and insightful response from someone so ancient, who must have totally taught himself to live in a different way! I then asked him if he lived alone in Greece, and he told me he was married to a human who he loved more than anything in the entire world._

 _His face took on a shadow when he told me this, I think, and I believe he too was pondering the shortness of the human lifespan. To steer the conversation to safer waters, I asked him what he was doing in the Forbidden North. What a mistake on my part, since that clearly upset him, although his answer was so intriguing and disturbing that I think I am glad that I asked. He told me that he was on a mission to find a way to make his wife an Everafter, that an old Bog Hag had informed him that giving immortality to a mortal could be possible. He wouldn't rest until he found what he called the "cure" to mortality. I felt so sad for him, because in truth mortality is not a disease and even if there was a way to make a man immortal, the Forbidden North is not where you want to be searching. Very dark things happen here._

 _I told him to go home and spend time with his wife while he can. He got mad, truly angry—it was a little alarming, to tell the truth, since he'd been so benign earlier—at this point and accused me of not understanding, which I suppose is true. But surely there isn't a way to grant mortal creatures immortality? What will happen to him when he discovers what he's doing is impossible, and that all the years he spent searching are ones he could have spent loving his wife?_

 _Oh, Ariel. I fear that love will be his downfall._

Tobias swallowed hard, his fingers tightening on the book. Daphne realized she had been biting down hard on the inside of her cheek and let go, feeling a belated stab of pain.

"So that's what happened," Uncle Jake said slowly, the corners of his mouth twitching downwards. "His wife died. The idea of spending eternity without her—that's what broke him."

Her uncle took a deep breath as if emerging from underwater and rubbed his forehead. Granny Relda's eyes had glazed over, as if she was trying to block out the words Tobias had read. Daphne felt tears threaten. She knew they were all thinking of the same people, of Briar Rose, of Basil Grimm, of all the friends they'd lost in the war. Those deaths had been bearable when they were all mortal and knew they would join them again someday, but now? Perhaps immortality was more of a curse than Daphne had realized.

Granny Relda looked like she was physically in pain and spoke next to the bookshelves above the family's heads in a matter-of-face voice, as if she was talking about the weather.

"I was with Basil the second time he met Ariel. It was the week before he died. Ariel had come to Ferryport Landing and was waiting just outside the barrier, literally toeing the line. He'd snarled at Basil when we approached and cursed him, claiming that, had the shadow of death not yet draped its veil around him, he would have put a bullet through his head."

She broke off, her knuckles white against the table. Uncle Jake made a noise that sounded like a cat being strangled.

"Basil tried to talk to him, but it was clear that the intelligent fairy did not seem to remember their meeting and wasn't entirely sure why he'd come to see Basil, other than being driven by a feeling of hatred. We didn't take him seriously, because he seemed deranged, and then he just vanished into thin air," Granny finished quietly. "Basil and I thought about going after him and tried to help, but after he passed, I forgot about it. I always wondered how he'd known exactly where the barrier was, and how he'd known that Basil would soon die."

Her uncle mumbled something about the bathroom and got to his feet slowly, as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Daphne's heart twisted as the door shut quietly behind him. Heavy silence fell over those who remained. Granny Relda was still staring off into space. Red's hand had once again found Daphne's.

"I said that, once," Tobias said after several heartbeats, breaking through the quiet. His eyes had taken on a distant look. "To Puck. Well, the Wolf did."

"Said what?" Red asked, her eyes darkening with worry the way they always did when Tobias mentioned the monster that had taken residence inside his body.

" _Love will be your downfall_ ," Daphne remembered, wondering at the implications. Chills raced down her spine. They were all quiet then, lost in thought.

"So now you all know what we're up against," Granny Relda said briskly, sounding almost like herself again, although she was still frowning. She clapped her hands together and then touched both Red and Daphne on the knee. "We've got to plan. Daphne, go find that uncle of yours, please."

It was a relief that Granny had recovered. Daphne let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, thinking that if Granny could do this, then so could she.

Standing up, she kissed the old woman on the cheek and then crossed the room in a few strides. But then she opened the door and cried out in alarm as Uncle Jake nearly ran into her.

"Uh, thanks for the heart attack!" Daphne cried, and stepped aside to let her flustered uncle through.

His eyes were red and his hair was rumpled, as if he'd been running his hands through it, but he seemed to have banished his sorrow. He flapped a hand at her as a means of apology and then addressed the room. "Kladenets is gone!"

* * *

"What do you mean, gone? No, we didn't sneak into the house while you were all in the library and take it, although that would have been a good plan," Puck said into the watch, scratching his head. "That's weird. Did you, like, dig through the muck at the bottom of the pond? Maybe it sank?"

"Believe me, boy, there's no pond there anymore," Tobias grumbled.

"Hey! What did you do to my pond?" Puck cried.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "More important things to worry about, Stinkpot. It's not somewhere else in the room?"

"No, we looked everywhere," Red confirmed. "Daphne used her wand, too."

"Tobias, it's not against the law for you to go shower," a disgruntled Daphne pointed out, and then yawned. "You're covered in mud!"

It was two in the morning. Sabrina, Puck, and Mustardseed were standing in the woods behind Granny Relda's house in Ferryport Landing, having just traveled from the hotel room in Russia. Not that anyone in the house knew how close they were—Sabrina was sure that they would have rushed out and tried to drag them inside. They'd been trying to figure out how to get the sword when Uncle Jake had called.

Granny Relda spoke next, and her voice was deadly calm. "Someone was in my house," she said. "I want to know who it was."

"I know, Old Lady! Someone was in _my_ room, violating the privacy of the King of Faerie!" Puck replied, and then amended, "You know, besides all you guys."

Mustardseed narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Puck, your room in the house is enchanted, right? Is there another entryway, other than the door inside the house? How do my letters get to you?"

"Who is that?" Daphne asked sharply.

"Mustardseed," Sabrina replied after deciding that in this case, there was no other option than to tell the truth.

"Hello," said Mustardseed.

"Oh, hey, Mustardseed, how are you?" Daphne asked. "Wait! Why does _he_ get to come, and we don't?"

Puck ignored her. "Your letters get to me through the pixie's entrance."

As if a switch had been flipped, Sabrina gasped. Mustardseed looked horrified. Puck glanced between them blankly.

"Moth has control over the pixies, you idiot!" Sabrina cried.

Daphne gasped too, although the noise sounded strangely tinny through the watch.

But Puck was shaking his head. "No, she doesn't. They only obey people who aren't banished, which she was, remember?"

Mustardseed winced. "There are ways around that."

Puck wheeled on his brother. " _What?_ "

"We hid the sword in the one room in the house that Moth had access to?" Uncle Jake cried. "Damn, I'm losing my touch."

"Pixies shouldn't obey her," Puck said to no one in particular, still reeling from this discovery. "She's banished. They shouldn't listen to her because of that."

Sabrina grabbed his hand to stop him from pacing away from them, battling the urge to make fun of him for his mistake. They didn't have time for that. "We'll get it back."

"This is all my fault," he moaned, rubbing his forehead. "I knew the pixies could get into my room if I called them, but I didn't—I didn't know—"

Closer than Sabrina would have liked, a twig snapped. Mustardseed's head swiveled in that direction, although Puck was still lost in thought.

"Puck, get ahold of yourself," Sabrina hissed. "We've got to go!"

"Faerie," Mustardseed mouthed, eyeing Sabrina appraisingly. And then out loud, he added, "That's where we should go."

Unlike his brother, Mustardseed was good at reading social cues, and had learned without having to be told that they were avoiding the rest of the Grimm family like the plague. Sabrina hadn't be around him long enough yet to feel comfortable around him, but he'd been agreeable and had gone along with Puck and Sabrina's plan thus far. In addition to siding with Sabrina on most decisions, and despite the fact that he kept looking at her like she was an equation he couldn't quiet solve, she was glad he was with them.

"Puck, Sabrina, where are you?" Red asked. "I can almost smell you."

Sabrina shuddered. She'd forgotten about the spirit of the Wolf, locked inside Red's body. She turned to Granny Relda's house and felt a stab of sadness. To be this close, but to have to stay away when the people she'd missed so much were all together… Sabrina set her jaw and turned away.

From the direction of the snapped twig, something came crashing through the undergrowth. Mustardseed swore under his breath and whipped out the teleporter he'd rescued them with, pressed a few buttons, and reached for them.

As the front door of the Grimm residence flew open, spilling yellow light onto the colorless grass, Sabrina, Puck and Mustardseed folded in half, and then half again, until all that remained of them was a whisper of scent that the breeze carried to Red's nose. Tobias read the look on his young companion's face and spoke for her, because for the first time in a long time, the girl seemed overwhelmed by her power.

He turned to Relda, praying that his words now would not be an omen, just like he was still praying the words that he'd said the fairy boy years ago would not cruelly predict his fate the way Basil had predicted Ariel's.

"They're gone. We're too late."

 **Yay for a new chapter! Finishing one of these things is always so exciting. Let me know what you think of the family members that made their appearance, especially Mustardseed, who I'm excited to be writing (I have a confession—I completely forgot Basil Jr. existed and had to go back and add his name in. Oops!).**

 **I think this may be the heaviest chapter I've written. When I picked Ariel and put him into this story, I knew he had a background that conflicted with my portrayal of him (benevolent vs. murderous), but I wasn't sure how to bridge the gap between those two things until I started writing this chapter, and then it all fell into place. I know I say this all the time, but since this sort of writing is more new territory for me, I'd love to hear any thoughts or comments you guys have on Ariel or how the Grimms reacted to his backstory—whether or not it came across as sad or believable.**

 **I want to thank everyone who reviewed lately and let you guys know that the last few reviews I've gotten are literally some of the nicest things people have ever said to me. Lol ok done being sappy. Thanks friends!**

 **Please review!**

 **Guest reviews!**

 **SJ: I'm so happy to hear from you again! Thanks so much for the review. Happy new year!**

 **Guest (1/9/17): That's such a nice thing to say! I'm so glad you like this story!**

 **Guest (12/31/16): Thank you!**


	10. Scarred Souls

**A/N: Hi! Chapter 10! It's shorter than most of my other chapters and I probably could have added another section, but I feel bad that some of you have been asking for updates for so long, so I decided to post this anyways. It's definitely different, because—guess what—Puck and Sabrina aren't in this one at all! That's the section I'm currently working on, so we'll see them in Chapter 11. BUT there are even more Grimms in this chapter, and there's more of Moth/Ariel. We've seen so much of Moth's external personality that I wanted to explore what she's like inside her own head a bit more.**

 **Question for you guys—do you want me to put summaries of what happened in the previous chapter or in the story in general at the beginning of chapters if it's been a long time since I last updated? Let me know because I'm not sure how often you all reread this and I will summarize if that would make it easier for you all to jump back in.**

 **Also, I wanted to say that I really appreciate all of the reviews I get, whether they're three words long or three paragraphs long. Every single one makes my day, so don't be afraid to leave a comment even if you don't think you have much to say! To reviewers with accounts—I'll answer you guys ASAP but I do have physics homework due in 6 hours that I haven't started yet, so after that!**

 **Please leave a review!**

 **Guest reviews:**

 **Whyudothis: Thank you so much! Don't worry, I really appreciate your review!**

 **Guest 1/15/17: I'm sure this is later than you wanted but new update!**

 **SJ: Yay! I honestly can't wait for this semester to be over so I can reread the series, I miss it and didn't bring it to school :( I haven't read Undertow yet, did you like it?**

 **Molly: Thanks, that means a lot!**

 **Av3r7 Read the b: Thank you so much! Your review was the one that finally got me to set aside time to finish and post this chapter. Hope you like it!**

Daphne

Chaos ensued in the Grimm household.

Granny Relda had called Henry while the others were searching frantically for Kladenets, and by some miracle he had picked up. Daphne had listened, cringing, to Granny explain that Uncle Jake had lost his daughter. After a while, Granny managed to calm him down, and reported to everyone that Henry was on his way with Veronica and Basil, and that they should arrive around five in the morning.

No one wanted to sleep, and no one really wanted to be alone, either. Although Daphne wanted nothing more than to be able to solve this problem by reading family journals or organizing a stakeout, there was really nothing to do besides stress out about Puck and Sabrina, and their own safety. The threat of Moth and Ariel hung over everyone like a thundercloud. Tobias had boarded up the door to Puck's room, just in case, and then had moved several dressers in front of it for good measure. Granny was planning on locking up the house as soon as the rest of the family arrived.

Time ticked on, and still no one went to bed. Instead, they scattered themselves around the living room and kitchen and occupied themselves by working, eating, and jumping at small noises. Uncle Jake made a pot of coffee and then drank about half of it. Daphne and Red, once they were finally too full to keep eating Cheez-its and popcorn, started a game of what they called zombie Monopoly. It was exactly the same as regular Monopoly, but whenever one of them fell asleep and had to be prodded awake, they had to give the other person twenty bucks.

Time passed hazily until there was a loud knock. Daphne sprang up and ran to it, meeting Granny Relda at the door. She threw it open and then threw herself into her mother's arms. Veronica hugged her fiercely, staggering back onto the porch, and Daphne suddenly felt very small.

Basil, who was now eight, was sound asleep in their father's arms, so Daphne leaned in to kiss them both on the cheek. Her father's eyes were dark with worry.

"Are you okay?" He asked Daphne, leveling his gaze to hers.

In a sudden urge to defend Uncle Jake against Henry's inevitable wrath, Daphne blurted out, "Great. I had a lot of fun in Russia."

Henry raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Really," Daphne argued. "Other than Moth and Ariel, of course."

"Who?" Henry asked. Veronica tilted her head and frowned.

"Everyone, get in," Granny Relda urged, shooing everyone into the house. "House, time to lock up!"

"Wait, lock up?" Veronica asked. "Relda, all you told us was that Sabrina and Puck ran off because they wanted to finish the mission alone. What's going on?"

Granny Relda and Daphne exchanged glances.

"I got this," Daphne said, and so Granny took Basil from Henry's arms and carried him over to the couch while Daphne, for what felt like the millionth time, launched into the story. She was getting sick of hearing her own voice. By the time she was finished, Veronica's mouth was hanging open and Henry was sagging against the wall, looking like he might be sick.

Veronica asked a few clarifying questions and managed to remain relatively calm, but once he'd recovered, Henry pushed past them both.

"Jacob!" he yelled.

Uncle Jake stepped out of the kitchen and held out his arms. "Hank!"

Daphne cringed. Somehow, in the past few hours, her uncle's appearance had deteriorated from _worse for wear_ to _potentially homeless_. He'd spilled coffee down his shirt, which, combined with the flecks of blood that had hit him when they were in the Lost Cave, created a ghastly affect that made it look like he'd been rolling in vomit. There was a huge rip in his jeans, surrounded by smears of dirt, from when he'd tripped and fallen when they were running away from Moth. His hair was still sticking up in all directions, and his eyes were red-rimmed and accessorized with massive purple bags.

The image did not evoke sympathy in Henry. He stalked toward his younger brother, anger rolling off of him in waves.

"You told me you weren't going to split the group up! You lost my daughter and didn't tell me, and now she could be literally anywhere on the planet, with _Puck_ , of all people!"

"Dad, it's not Uncle Jake's fault," Daphne tried, staying far back from the conflict. "Sabrina and Puck thought we would be in more danger if we came with them!"

"Jacob was in charge of you all," her father argued, glaring over his shoulder at Daphne before returning his attention to Jake. "He should have handled this better. Now my daughter is being targeted by a bunch of lunatic Everafters, and we're all hiding up in Ferryport Landing!"

"We're going to help them," Uncle Jake snapped, setting his fifth mug of coffee down on the table. "We aren't going to let them do this alone. Besides, Puck is very capable of protecting her while we aren't around—"

"You and I both know that Puck has other reasons to want to be alone with my daughter!" Henry roared. Out of the corner of her eye, Daphne saw Basil sit up with a jolt on the couch and look around in utter confusion.

" _Henry_!" Uncle Jake, Granny Relda, and Veronica said simultaneously, while Daphne cried, "Dad!"

"Puck would never take advantage of her," Uncle Jake hissed, taking a step closer to his brother. "Don't you talk about him like that!"

But Henry was not finished, when he spoke again his voice was dangerously soft. "You don't understand, Jacob. That's my child out there. I won't rest until I know she's safe."

"Puck is the closest thing I'll ever have to a son," Uncle Jake replied, his voice trembling with fury. "Do you see me sleeping, brother?"

Uncle Jake turned on his heel and strode back into the kitchen, shutting the door with a snap, leaving stunned silence in his wake.

Henry turned to Daphne, speechless. She knew what he was looking for; over the years she's somehow fallen into the role of bridging the gap between Henry's well-meant, although poorly expressed, outbursts of feelings and the rest of the world. Most of these instances had to do with Sabrina. Right now, she was too exhausted to want to help her father see sense, but if she didn't, who would?

"It was Sabrina's choice, whether you like it or not, Dad," Daphne said to him finally, once she'd finished rolling around different words and phrases in her head. "Don't take this out on Uncle Jake. It's not his fault Moth targeted Sabrina. He's already blaming himself for Briar, and Grandpa Basil, and Puck and Sabrina, without a lecture from you."

There was something about her words that felt draining, and Daphne gritted her teeth and sank into a chair, fatigue weighing like lead on her limbs.

When Granny Relda spoke up, it was clear that she was not to be argued with. "I think what we all need to do is sleep. There's nothing any of us can do for Puck and Sabrina in this state. Now, everyone get what you need for tomorrow out of your rooms, we're going to booby trap the hallway."

As so, in the light of the rising sun, the Grimm family settled down for a few hours of sleep. The absence of Sabrina was as glaring and obvious as if someone had carried her empty bed down the stairs and left it in the middle of the room. Several times, Daphne had heard a noise and looked up, expecting to see her sister's blonde head poke around a corner. But no matter how hard Daphne wished, her sister was gone, and so she'd tried to push it from her mind as curled up with an upset and disoriented Basil on one of the couches in the living room to lull him back to sleep. Red had insisted that Tobias take the other. Everyone else set up a row of sleeping bags on the floor, except for Uncle Jake, who was too caffeinated and distressed to sleep and instead slumped in an armchair.

Although she was more exhausted than she had ever been, Daphne couldn't sleep either. She watched the shadows that webbed the ceiling shrink in the morning light, trying to match her breathing to her brother's. Once Daphne was pretty sure that the others were asleep, she sat up with the intention of going to get a glass of water, drawing Uncle Jake's attention. The look in his eyes reminded her of a solider who'd just returned from battle.

Daphne's heart clenched.

 _Puck is the closest thing I'll ever have to a son._

"You didn't do anything wrong, you know," she whispered. "I think you're doing a great job. Puck and Sabrina will be fine."

Uncle Jake started and then looked at her like he'd never seen her before. A shadow of a smile crossed his face.

"Look at you, Peanut. Taking care of everyone else around you, adults and children alike," he said, gesturing to the way she had one arm wrapped around her brother. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. "You're gonna make a great leader someday, kid."

Daphne frowned. A leader? She wasn't a leader any more than she was a unicorn. Basil had been upset, so she'd done what she could to get him to sleep. Henry hadn't yelled anymore after she'd finished talking, but she'd only spoken so that no one else would have to.

She noticed that Uncle Jake had visibly relaxed, and Daphne wondered whether it actually had been her words that had made the difference. Forgetting all about the water, she slid back down, feeling tiredness seep from her eyeballs as her head hit the pillow.

Daphne drifted off feeling oddly warm inside, and a little confused, and thought for the first time since they'd left Russia that everything might just be okay.

* * *

Moth's stomach was in knots.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" she hissed, lengthening her stride to match Ariel's.

Contemptuous, he replied, "Obviously."

They'd met up again in an area of the Forbidden North where Moth had never been, but knew Ariel frequented. He'd refused to tell her what had happened in the Lost Cave, but Moth thought that he looked strangely haggard and frail, as if his true age was catching up to him.

Moth scowled at Ariel's back. They couldn't afford to be weak. Not now. Not ever, once they were royalty.

She didn't know where he was taking her. When she'd returned with Kladenets but no leads as to where her moron of an ex-fiancé and his even-more-clueless romantic interest had gone, Ariel had claimed to know how to find them. How that was possible was beyond Moth, but he had started walking with purpose, and she would rather die than ask him where they were going and seem stupid.

Kladenets was strapped vertically to her back, hilt up. The constant pressure of it against her spine was reassuring, a reminder that their plan— _her_ plan—was working.

The tundra was flat and bare here, with no vegetation, animal life, or even a hollow in the ground to mar the landscape as far as the eye could see. When Moth had commented on the endless whiteness in an effort to make a conversation, Ariel had tersely informed her that everything in the area was dead.

 _Good thing we're so good at making small talk. So compatible,_ Moth thought dryly. Probably about as compatible as her and Puck would have been.

Ariel stopped walking and dropped to his knees, his lanky frame as taut as a loaded bow. He placed a bare hand deep into the blanket of snow and a fierce shudder that couldn't have been due to the cold ran through his shoulders. Wordlessly, he reached behind him and snatched her wrist, and then the world went dark.

It took Moth a while to realize that she could see again, since it was so dark that it took her eyes a long time to adjust. They were in some sort of cave, judging by the stalagmites that rose around them like the skeletons of saplings. Ariel kept a firm, uncomfortable pressure on her arm and began to walk them through the dark.

"We're underground," he informed her unnecessarily.

Moth's mouth went dry as they wound around the stalagmites. Wherever she went, she always made an escape plan, in case she was betrayed and had to get herself out. But right now she was more than disoriented. How had they gotten here? There had been no entrance aboveground that Moth could see. She had no idea how Ariel knew where he was going, and the idea of being completely at his mercy did not sit well with her. Should she jump him now, while his back was turned?

No. No, he needed her. He couldn't hurt her.

 _Yet_ , said a nasty little voice in the back of her head.

Ariel stopped so fast that Moth nearly walked into him, but caught herself just in time. She felt a calloused finger touch her lips, a warning to be silent. Nerve endings on fire, Moth held her breath and waited.

The soft hiss of a match being lit echoed through the blackness, and some distance away a flicker of fire erupted at chest level, too far away to illuminate anything, just close enough to make her squint.

The candle-sized flame grew without warning into a torch, and that was when Moth saw the silhouette of the being that was holding it.

" _Ariellll,"_ wheezed the creature. Moth felt goose bumps pinch her arms. How had it known who they were?

"You swore you'd never return to me. And with another girl? I thought you'd given up on them."

"She's an accomplice," Ariel said, his words as brittle as a tree branch in winter.

Some halting, croaking noise that Moth realized with a shudder was laughter was coming from the crone behind the torch. Moth's stomach turned dangerously and she put her free hand over her mouth, glad that this creature was hidden in the shadows. Surely she looked as hideous as she sounded.

"Trying to help this one win immortality too?" The crone snapped back. "She been lying to you, she has. Pretty girl's four thousand and twelve."

Moth was so startled that this thing knew her age that it took her a moment to register what else the woman was saying. Immortality? Another girl? Frowning, she glanced at Ariel, who was little more than an outline. His hand squeezed her arm so hard that she had to bite her lip to stop herself from crying out.

"I've come to even our score. You owe me, Sycorax," Ariel replied smoothly. "I need you to throw the bones."

Alarm bells rang in Moth's brain. _Sycorax?_

Everyone who frequented the Forbidden North knew that Sycorax was the witch that had imprisoned Ariel in tree thousands of years ago. Her existence and the way Ariel had refused to help her practice black magic was the reason that Ariel's behavior today frightened even the toughest Everafters. It was why she'd sought him out.

However, everyone who knew the story also knew that Sycorax was _dead_.

"The favor was me letting you go last time instead of feasting on you, foolish boy! Push me one more time, and you and your lover may not be so lucky," said the witch. Again, she began to laugh. The noise reminded Moth of the calls that bullfrogs made before the palace boys used them for target practice.

Moth's stomach gave a vicious twist, one that had nothing to do with the stink that was wafting from wherever Sycorax was standing to wherever they were standing.

"Sycorax died thousands of years ago," Moth said out of the corner of her mouth, in case Ariel had finally lost his marbles. There had been a rumor, centuries after her passing, when vampires wreaked havoc on the countryside, that she'd sold her soul to the devil in exchange for the opportunity to lead the bloodsuckers, but there had never been any evidence. Moth had been sure there had been no truth to it, that it had just been a tale told to frighten children who wouldn't go to bed.

A low growl rumbled in Ariel's throat. He ignored Moth. "You'll help, vampiress, or I'll make it my personal mission to hunt down your grave."

Vampiress?!

The laugh stopped so quickly that Ariel might as well have slapped her. Sycorax's light went out without warning and then a rush of cold air made Moth suck in a breath. The sickening smell that Moth could now place—the irony tang of old blood—overwhelmed her. She felt Sycorax's presence behind her and held still as the vile creature took a deep sniff.

"That's quite a sword," Sycorax murmured in her ear.

"Watch yourself, peasant," Moth snapped, and then clamped her mouth shut to stop herself to emptying the contents of her stomach on the floor.

More bullfrog laughter.

"I like this one _so_ much better, Ariel," Sycorax croaked. "The old one was so…boring."

Ariel snatched his hand away from Moth as if she had burned him, and Moth found herself recoiling, thankful for the darkness for hiding her temporary lapse in fearlessness. She wasn't scared of Ariel, Moth reminded herself. Ariel was wrapped around her finger, he wouldn't hurt her.

"Don't talk about her like that!" Ariel yelled, and his echo screamed back at them.

Sycorax tut-tutted, and with another rush of cold air moved away from them.

"Bones, you say?" The light returned.

Ariel was breathing like a wounded rhinoceros. He clawed at his hair and did not speak.

"I think we both know what you want me to throw for," Sycorax prodded hoarsely.

"No," Ariel snapped, "not that. We need you to locate the King of Faerie."

Moth looked between the two of them, trying to make sense of what was going on. She hated this. This was her mission. What was Ariel doing, undermining her like this?

"Why?" Sycorax argued. "I'll make you a deal, Ariel, because I like you. Give me the girl and I'll throw the bones in a way that will make all your problems _disappear._ "

Moth's eyes widened. She might not know what was going on, but she was smart enough to know when to take over. "I'm not anyone's property to be given. He said throw the bones to find the King of Faerie, witch."

A long, pregnant pause stretched between them. Ariel was now staring upwards, his lips moving wordlessly.

"What'll it be, servant of Prospero?"

Moth's heart was beating a violent tattoo. Why wasn't he answering? Give her to Sycorax—he couldn't turn her over! He wouldn't! He needed her!

But did he? Now that Kladenets was a foot away from him, had she become collateral? Antiquated as the tradition was, the fact remained that you needed a King to be Queen—not the other way around.

"Ariel, tell her to throw for the King of Faerie right now, or I'm teleporting out with Kladenets right now and you'll never see me again," Moth hissed, feeling the old pulsing in her chest that turned her vision red and made her entire body tremble.

Why wasn't she good enough? What the hell was it about her that made her so dispensable, time after time?

"You can't teleport out of here," Ariel muttered. There was no malice in his voice, but then again…there was no anything in it. It was as flat as soda that had been sitting out for days.

That was enough for Moth. With a flourish, she drew Kladenets and swung at Ariel, who ducked just in time. He reached out and grabbed for her, but she dodged, kicked the back of his knee as hard as she could, and then held the tip of the sword to his throat as he lay panting on the ground

"Make the right decision," Moth hissed through gritted teeth and burning eyes.

Ariel was as impassive as a statue. "Find us the King of Faerie, Sycorax," he ordered.

Moth took a big step backwards and held Kladenets in a fighting stance, ready to destroy whichever one of them came for her first.

While they'd been fighting, Sycorax had set the torch down on an earthen table that had previously been obscured by shadow. She let out a dramatic sigh. "Fine. You're both so boring. Do you have his blood?"

Wordlessly, Ariel withdrew a bloodied piece of Puck's shirt from his pocket. Anger flared in Moth's gut again. Another thing he'd done behind her back!

In the pool of yellow light, Sycorax placed a small bag that looked disturbingly like it was made of human skin. Moth watched her hand move through the illuminated patch. The skin was gray and pallid, the nails covered in dark fungus. She shuddered to think about what Sycorax looked like under her cloak.

She drew a dagger, and the motion made Moth's hands twitch on the hilt, but Sycorax simply handed it to Ariel. Wordlessly, Ariel used it to split the flesh on his palm. Sycorax reached into the bag, withdrew a bone that could have been some creature's vertebrate, and handed it to him. With a hiss of pain, Ariel rolled the bone over the cut and handed the bloodied fragment back.

The alarm bells returned. Moth had never been in the presence of magic like this before. There were ways to throw bones without breaking skin, but this…this method was true black magic, the ancient kind that was practiced only by the most demented, twisted beings. Even in the Forbidden North, where rules were few and far between, practicing black magic was a death sentence.

Sycorax held the dagger out to Moth.

"Your turn, girl."

Moth swallowed. Every instinct screamed for her to back away, to tell them that she would only watch, not participate in whatever was about to happen. She began to shake harder, and Kladenets grew slippery in her palms.

Excuses circled through her mind. If she had a cut on her palm she couldn't wield the sword, perhaps the spell wouldn't work if her blood mingled with Ariel's.

Moth bit down hard on the inside of her cheek. Ariel had given his blood without complaint, and if she was going to be his equal, then she knew what she had to do.

But black magic. Black magic left scars on your soul.

She heard her mother's cold voice in her head.

 _You want to be Queen, don't you? Then you do anything to get there._

Moth stiffened and reached for the hilt.


	11. The Wait Ends

**A/N: Welcome to chapter 11! I tried to rebuild Faerie, since that's what they seemed to be doing toward the end of the books.**

 **This story is nearing its end, which is sad, we've got a few more chapters to go. Sophomore spring wrecked me more than anything ever has and I'm so excited to be writing again so I have a feeling those chapters will come relatively quickly.**

 **Briefly, since its been so long: we left off with Moth being peer-pressured into some black magic, the Grimm family (minus Sabrina) is together again, and Moth and Ariel have the sword Kladenets that enhances its holders strengths and weaknesses. Puck/Sabrina/Mustardseed are avoiding the Grimms and trying to stop Moth and Ariel.**

 **Reviews make my day!**

 **SJ: Thank you! I was skeptical also so the validation means a lot! Now that I'm home, Undertow is on my read list. Don't worry, I literally still only read children's/YA books because I refuse to grow up.**

 **Guest (2/23/17): Thank you!**

"Knock, knock," said Sabrina.

The statue of Hans Christian Andersen looked at her, and the fine hairs on the back of Sabrina's neck rose as she saw the resemblance between this hunk of stone and Benjamin Andersen from Oymyakon.

"Who's there?"

The front of the Golden Egg materialized before her and she welcomed the wash of warm air that hit her as she walked inside. The restaurant was alive with Everafters, and cozy from the crackling fire in the far wall. Puck was waiting for her to the left of the door, skulking against the wall, his hood pulled low over his eyes, back to her.

"What are you doing?" Sabrina hissed. He looked like a child that someone had put in a time-out corner.

"Mother can't know I'm here," Puck whispered with a quick glance over his shoulder. She looked around too, and then Puck put a hand on her back and turned her toward him, away from the rest of the restaurant. "Don't do that, you're drawing attention to us."

Sabrina narrowed her eyes, suspicious, but before she could demand an explanation, Mustardseed entered. "You should put your hood up, too," he advised, as if he'd been listening to their conversation. "You may be growing, but many people in here would still recognize you as the daughter of Veronica Grimm. We don't want that kind of attention right now."

Suddenly on edge, Sabrina drew her hood over her hair. "What exactly are we doing here?"

They wound their way around the edge of the Golden Egg, avoiding eye contact with the other Everafters sitting at the tables. There were no guards here today, no one to stop them from entering Faerie. Sabrina wondered if the use of goblins as bouncers had died with Oberon.

"Using the boxes," Mustardseed said matter-of-factly, pushing through the double doors that led into Faerie.

Sabrina blinked. Just as she was about to ask Mustardseed what on earth that was supposed to mean, the memory of the last time she'd been back in this narrow hallway hit, and she flinched. Moth had almost killed her. How unfortunate, how the past repeated itself.

"Faerie has been expanding," Puck muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "Ever since Oberon died, and especially since the Ferryport Landing barrier fell and more Everafters moved to the city, Faerie is finally turning into the kingdom that it should be. It's still mostly underground, but we're building up, too."

Sabrina nodded, trying to keep track of the turns they were making. Left, right, left, left… the bends were sharp and before long the oak walls and floors fell away to reveal stone. They were out of the Golden Egg and into a part of the new castle where Sabrina had never been before. Torches illuminated the narrow passageway that eventually widened and deposited the trio into a tall, circular throne room. Although she'd never been to this room, Sabrina had heard of it—this was the first part of New Faerie that breached the surface and occupied a real building in New York City. It was enchanted, of course, it looked like a warehouse on the outside, but that didn't change the fact that the lines between Faerie and New York City had blurred significantly.

The thought of Faerie and New York merging had made Sabrina uncomfortable at first. Veronica had reasoned that it was the natural progression of development, and that there was no way the kingdom of Faerie could take over, but it had still taken Sabrina a while to come around.

Now, standing in the throne room, Sabrina felt that old queasiness return for a new reason. Although most of the new developments she'd been to were distinctly modern, at first glance this room looked like it had been plucked from castle in Scotland in 1409, and set down seven centuries later. Sunlight filtered in through stained-glass windows and washed colors on the stone floor. The domed ceiling was painted with scenes of dancing fairies and faraway forests. Three empty thrones adorned the wall to their immediate right and hundreds of feet across them were an ornate set of oak double door. The circular walls were not solid, but a series of archways that started at the double doors and wound around to the thrones. Behind the arches was a shadowy passageway that could easily be followed from the throne to the doors. Overall, the entire room screamed the otherness of Faerie at Sabrina, the non-humanness. Any reasonable human would see such a passageway as a pretty good way to be assassinated, but before she could tell the brothers so, Puck grabbed her hand and pulled her through the nearest archway and into the passageway behind it.

She'd been so caught up in thought that she hadn't noticed one of the double doors opening on the far side of the room. Loud voices spilled into the throne room as Mustardseed ducked in behind them.

"There's Mother," Puck whispered, squeezing Sabrina's hand hard and then letting go.

Titania's voice filtered through the doorway. She hadn't stepped into the room yet, so Sabrina couldn't see her or hear what she was saying, but she could tell she was yelling about something.

"We're having a ball this weekend," Mustardseed explained, his voice clipped. "I'd assume that she's arguing with someone about that."

"Haven't found a way out of it yet, have you?" Puck joked, elbowing his brother in the ribs.

A scowl bloomed on Mustardseed's features. "One prince has to be there."

Puck flinched, almost imperceptibly, and then said to them, "Come on."

He didn't quite look at her when he said it, and brushed past his brother as he led the way. In the dim light of the passage, Sabrina thought the back of his neck looked red.

Mustardseed's mouth twisted as if he'd just taken a dose of medicine, but he followed without a word. It was weird to see Puck so rattled, since he usually brushed aside her snide comments about being royalty and being irresponsible.

And Mustardseed—Sabrina had tried to read him but couldn't quite figure him out. She knew that she would be frustrated if she was in his place, not the heir to the throne, but stuck acting like it while Puck went gallivanting all over the planet. But Mustardseed didn't seem to actually be angry, just irritated. He had a few inches on Puck and could definitely catch up with Puck if he tried, yet he stayed back a few steps as they walked in a tight circle around the edge of the throne room.

It was weird that he was older than them in human years now. The idea of someone speeding up their growth like that didn't sit well with her. She'd only seen it done once, by Cinderella, but she'd fast-forwarded through entire decades so that she could be the same age as her human husband. Mustardseed had skipped one scene in his life for no apparent reason. Sabrina wanted to ask him why, but with the tense silence and the voice of Titania seeping through the passageway, she held her tongue.

"Hoods," Mustardseed said shortly, and Sabrina and Puck pulled their hoods on without a word. Titania entered the throne room, followed by two fairy godfathers. Sabrina followed Puck when he moved to the far edge of the passageway, where the shadows were the deepest, and then almost walked into him when he stopped short to let Mustardseed take the lead.

Titania's back was to them, her voice booming around the chamber. Sabrina found herself staring at the woman's sleek brown hair, fitted power suit, and high, stylish heels. Had Titania always dressed like that? Sabrina tried to remember the last time she had seen her in Faerie—two years ago? Three? All Sabrina could picture was Titania greeting them in a bathrobe. Two disgruntled Fairy Godfathers stood with her, nodding along as she spoke.

"I want twenty tables that seat six over on that side. Make the tablecloths cream-colored, please, not eggshell, if you mistake the two again I'll have no choice but to fire you," Titania snapped, tapping her pen against her yellow legal pad in irritation.

"Yes, Your Majesty," one of the fairy godfathers grumbled, and waved his wand. Twenty tables blinked into existence. Bile rose in Sabrina's throat.

Titania began to spin in a slow circle. Puck, Mustardseed, and Sabrina jumped behind pillars that separated the archways before she could spot them.

"The catwalk is so ugly. We'll have to invest in some flowering vines, I think, install better lighting, torches are so out of season—"

Titania's voice dropped off. Sabrina's nausea worsened. She pressed her back against her pillar. She counted seconds in her head.

"Who's there?" Titania barked. "Come out this instant, or I'll have you arrested!"

Immediately, Mustardseed jumped into the open. "Just me, Mother."

Titania let out a strained sigh. "You, and?"

"Some friends," Mustardseed replied casually.

The sound of heels clicking across stone made Sabrina jump. She looked sideways and saw Mustardseed nod to Puck.

Puck blanched, but motioned to Sabrina and then followed his brother.

By the time Sabrina revealed herself, Titania had recovered from the shock of seeing Puck, but took a full step backwards at the appearance of the older Grimm girl. Then she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Which one of you wants to tell me what in Faerie you're doing in my throne room?"

Mustardseed opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Puck said, "We're just showing Ugly around. It hurts so much to look at her that the human world doesn't want her, so I graciously offered to take her on as a maid."

Sabrina scowled. Titania's sharp eyes flicked to Sabrina's face, and as if Puck hadn't said anything, asked, "Why are you here without my knowledge? I told you and your sister to contact my people when you need something."

With a glare in Puck's direction, Sabrina replied, "We don't need anything. Puck wanted to stop by. He's been staying with my family for the holidays."

She clamped her mouth shut then, unsure if Titania would be upset that her son wasn't spending Christmas in Faerie. Did the Fair Folk celebrate human holidays?

Titania's mouth became a very thin line. "Stop by?" she asked icily.

Puck's returning glare burned into Sabrina.

"We'll be quick, and then we'll be heading out," Puck said loudly, as if the volume of his voice could stop Titania from answering.

She arched an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Not going to stop and have a chat with your mother?"

Her voice was laced with poison. Sabrina tensed, ready to run if the woman suddenly transformed into a dragon.

Puck's expression smoothed out. "Of course. I'll meet you back here in two hours."

"Oh, no," Titania replied. "I'm done playing your games, Trickster King. You'll come with me now, and Mustardseed can show the Grimm girl around."

Titania beckoned with her finger and then she was striding away, the fairy godfathers in tow. Sabrina watched her go in terrified awe.

Puck's wings popped out, and Sabrina thought he was debating flying for his life.

"Go with her, brother," Mustardseed whispered. "It'll just be worse if you prolong it."

"What will be worse?" Sabrina asked, earning warning looks from both boys.

Titania was waiting at the entrance to the throne room, tapping her foot impatiently.

Puck rolled his eyes at them. "Just kill me now, this is going to be so boring. You know where you're going?"

"Yes," Mustardseed snapped.

" _Alrighty_ , then!" Puck bellowed. He gave them a mock salute and jumped into the air, swooping across the throne room. Sabrina gazed at the lines of his body as he landed gracefully next to his mother, and then the two of them were gone.

"Where is she taking him?" Sabrina asked once the door closed behind the fairy godfathers with a snap.

"Probably to yell at him for running off again. He does that, you know."

Sabrina suddenly didn't want to talk about Puck anymore.

"When did Titania get so…on top of things?" she asked instead.

Mustardseed shrugged. "After Father died, she sort of claimed the role of King, as well as Queen. People are scared of her, but they respect it. For now."

Sabrina nodded as they continued their walk across the throne room, toward a small door that was obscured in the shadows of the catwalk.

"You've been in here before?" Mustardseed asked with interest, producing a key and unlocking the door.

"A few times, solving mysteries. I never spoke to Titania other than when she let us in, although Daphne and my mom did some work with her on your artifact archive a few years ago."

"That's interesting," Mustardseed replied politely as he opened the door and led the way down a long, dark set of stairs.

She wondered why he felt the need to be so formal and figured it was a diplomatic thing. It was difficult to see him in the dark as the staircase leveled out and dropped them in a gloomy underground tunnel. Partly out of curiosity and partly in an effort to get him to talk to her so she could follow his voice, she asked, "So, what's your job around here?"

"I'm the Advisor to the King, but right now I mostly help Titania. Puck doesn't need much advising, since he's never around," he said with a laugh that was a lot less bitter than Sabrina would have expected.

"It doesn't bother you that he's always traveling?" Sabrina asked, reaching out for reassurance that there was a wall to her side.

"I'm fine with it. We spent so much time with each other over the past few millennia that I'm okay with him being gone so much," Mustardseed replied. "We write to each other, and he comes back once a year to be debriefed, more often if he or your uncle needs something."

"Is that what he's doing with your mom right now? Getting debriefed?"

Mustardseed laughed. "Oh, no. He's probably getting an earful right now, because he keeps extending this traveling of his without consulting anyone. He should be sitting on the throne right now. Of course, it's been so long since Oberon was crowned that it's hard to remember the exact rules, and he uses that to his advantage."

Sabrina snorted. "Sounds like Puck."

"He's clever," Mustardseed agreed, some of the formality finally fading from his voice. "You'd know that, I'm sure, probably better than me."

Sabrina felt her cheeks heat up and was glad it was dark. "Oh, I'm sure that's not true—"

"Can I ask you something?"

Dreading the question that was coming, Sabrina replied, "I guess."

"Do you think he'll come back for good?"

Sabrina felt an immediate rush of gratitude toward Mustardseed for not asking her some stupid question about her relationship status.

They walked in silence for a few steps as Sabrina thought. "Someday, yes, definitely. But not yet. I don't think he's ready yet."

"He went through a lot when we were young," Mustardseed replied lightly. "Moth put him through hell, Oberon put him through something much worse. I try not to hold it against him for needing time to find himself."

Sabrina thought that Mustardseed might be the most selfless person she'd ever met. "That's fair."

"You're a good friend to stick by him, what with the way he keeps running off," Mustardseed continued.

 _Which he'll do in a few short days_ , said a nasty little voice in Sabrina's head. Her heart squeezed painfully.

They passed under a torch and Sabrina saw that he was eyeing her as if she was a puzzle he was trying to solve.

"Sometimes all he needs is a friend," Sabrina told him, much louder than she meant to. She tried to snap out of it, to ignore the pain in her chest, and changed the topic. "Mustardseed, had you ever heard of Ariel? Before we came along, I mean."

Now it was Mustardseed's turn to brood. After several turns and a shallow decline that brought them deeper into the earth, he spoke.

"Have you read _The Tempest?"_

"No, but I've heard about it."

"What most people don't know is that centuries after their story was written, Ariel finally joined forces with Sycorax."

"The witch who imprisoned him in a tree because he refused to do evil things for her?"

"The very same. She's still alive, somehow. We keep tabs on both of them, and Moth, and all of the other outcasts. We knew when Ariel visited Sycorax for the first time, a few decades ago. We even sent a few of our men to investigate and detain him. But they never returned."

She felt Mustardseed shudder, even though they weren't touching. "I've heard rumors that he only went to her because he was trying to save his human wife from death, but if that is true, that's not what their partnership is about anymore. She must have done something to him, because there are several accounts of him being stronger, faster, and more intelligent than a fairy could ever be."

"And a lot more detached from the world," Sabrina added, shuddering at the memory of his behavior in the Lost Cave.

"Exactly," Mustardseed admitted. "There are a lot of factors to consider when you've lived as long as he has. Honestly, though, if I were you I'd be more worried about Moth. Ariel may have a shady past, but Moth knows our system, knows what she wants, and has absolutely nothing to lose from what she's about to attempt. In here."

Oblivious to the incredulous look Sabrina was giving him, Mustardseed opened a door that Sabrina had walked right by and led her inside.

They were in a small, earthen room with a small square pedestal in the center. Although there was no source of light, the walls themselves seemed to give off a reddish glow that allowed Sabrina to see. Numerous shelves around the room were lined with small black boxes. Sabrina approached the nearest one, and saw that each box was resting on a plaque with a name neatly inked in spindly handwriting.

"Help me look for Ariel, would you?" Mustardseed asked from across the room.

Sabrina considered asking for an explanation and decided against it. She scanned the neat rows of boxes. She did a double take when she saw Moth's name, felt a surge of fury when she came across Oz's box, and then finally reached for Ariel's. It was small enough to fit in her hand comfortably, but strangely heavy and warm.

"Found it," she said, cupping it in her hands.

"How good are you with handling magic?"

"The opposite of good. Absolutely terrible," Sabrina replied, already feeling the dull effects of the box. Immediately, Mustardseed reached for it, and Sabrina handed over Ariel's box gratefully.

"This will let us spy on Ariel. We'll only have a few minutes to listen in before he senses someone watching him," Mustardseed said.

Mustardseed set the Ariel box on the pedestal, fitting the square corners together. He slid the latch to the side and hurried over to where Sabrina stood. On its own accord, the lid of the box flipped open, and yellow light shone up from the inside, illuminating the ceiling.

A miniature version of Ariel rose from the box and floated in the stream of light, spinning in a lazy circle.

"—need you to throw the bones," the figure Ariel was saying. He was silent for a long time, spinning in his circle. Sabrina waited with bated breath for him to speak again, but the only thing he did was flap his hands as if he was trying to swat a fly. Mustardseed swore, lunged forward, and slammed the lid shut. The light went out and Sabrina blinked, her eyes struggling to adjust to the dimness once again.

"Oh, that is not good. Here, take this," Mustardseed said, and Sabrina groped blindly for him. "Oh, never mind. I forgot you're human. How ironic that we were just speaking of Sycorax. Oh, I hope I'm wrong."

Sabrina swallowed, the darkness pressing on her eyeballs. "Uh, what?"

He bustled around the room for a few minutes and then Sabrina heard the whisper of the corners of another box fitting into the pedestal, another slide of a latch. There was a rush of air that meant Mustardseed was by her side again, and then the lid flew open.

An old, grotesque crone was revolving where the miniature Ariel had stood. Sabrina shuddered as it rotated, taking in its sagging, graying skin and wart-covered, lumpy nose.

"That's Sycorax," Mustardseed murmured.

"I think we both know what you want me to throw for," the crone whispered hoarsely after a tense silence. Sabrina's heart hammered as Sycorax fell silent again, listening to voices they couldn't hear.

"Why?" Sycorax roared after a minute, making Mustardseed and Sabrina jump. "I'll make you a deal, Ariel, because I like you. Give me the girl and I'll throw the bones in a way that will make all your problems _disappear_."

The figure of Sycorax stopped spinning. It looked over its shoulder at Mustardseed and Sabrina. Sabrina forgot how to breathe, sure that it could somehow see them, and then Sycorax flashed them a wicked smile and her box snapped shut on its own accord. Sabrina jumped out of her skin at the noise.

"How did she do that?" Mustardseed whispered, fear raising his voice several octaves. "I've had creatures notice that something is off before when I've spied on them, but never—never—nothing ever did that!"

"I don't know," Sabrina squeaked. "But she saw us, she definitely saw us, is that normal?" She'd broken out in a cold sweat and shivered in the dark Mustardseed hurried to replace the box.

"No," Mustardseed replied, clicking on a modern flashlight. "But we've got a bigger problem than that. We have to find Puck. Right now!"

They ran back through the tunnels that they'd traveled at a leisurely pace beforehand. Sabrina began to wish for Daphne's commitment to running as she struggled to keep up with Mustardseed. A healthy fear of Sycorax was what kept her going.

Mustardseed threw pieces of explanations at her as they went. Sabrina was not in shape enough to speak back.

"Throwing the bones is black magic—turn left!" Mustardseed yelled, his voice echoing down the corridor. "Sycorax can use the bones to locate Puck if they have his blood… I don't know which bone spell she's doing but all of them are really, really bad!"

"How bad?" she managed to wheeze.

"I don't think you want to know!" Mustardseed replied as they pelted up the earthen staircase.

Sabrina decided that he was right, she didn't, but her stomach was filling with ice.

They sprinted through the throne room and out the double doors, down a long hallway past a pair of bewildered guards who Mustardseed waved off, and then into a side chamber.

And then nearly collided with Puck, who was midway through storming away from Titania, who was positively seething.

"What's going on?" Puck asked, eyeing Sabrina with concern as she doubled over in front of him.

Mustardseed's eyes were wild. "Mother, there's an emergency with the tables in the throne room!"

"What?" roared the Queen. Titania's hand had been resting on the back of a chair, and now she squeezed so hard that the back snapped off, effectively creating a stool and a weapon.

She pushed past them all and strode away, her heels clicking against the ground.

"Okaaay, now what's the real problem?" Puck asked when she was out of earshot.

Mustardseed and Sabrina exchanged fearful looks. Before either of them could speak, Puck roared in pain and clutched his chest, sinking to his knees.

Every nerve in Sabrina's body screamed with him. Panicked, she knelt before him and yanked his hand away, searching for an injury while Puck continued to yell in agony.

"Sabrina, hold his head back!" Mustardseed yelled over his brother's shouts. He too had fallen to the ground, but he was digging through a pouch similar to the one Puck carried for medicines. He shuffled over to them as Sabrina moved behind Puck and grabbed his head, cringing as Mustardseed pinched his brother's nose and poured a pink potion down his throat.

Puck choked, swallowed, and then fell forward like a log. Sabrina grabbed him by shoulders and pulled him back up as he wheezed, the pain subsiding. Mustardseed had gone very white.

"What did she do to him?" Sabrina hissed, watching Puck's head loll.

It took Mustardseed a minute to find his voice. "She marked him. So that Moth and Ariel can track him. The potion numbed the pain, but he'll be fuzzy in the head for a few minutes."

Puck groaned, rubbed his forehead, and mumbled something incoherent.

"You know what that means, don't you?" Mustardseed asked, frowning at his brother.

"They're…coming," Puck croaked, struggling to get away.

Suddenly pieces clicked together in Sabrina's brain, and she let go of Puck's shoulders and let him fall forward onto his hands and knees. "They're coming _right now_ ," she clarified.

Mustardseed nodded and began to throw everything back in his medicine kit.

"We need to get out of Faerie, then," she said, jumping to her feet. "Faerie is where they want us to be."

Puck struggled to get up, still out of it. "Yes," he agreed, pointing an unsteady finger at Sabrina.

"Uh, no," Mustardseed argued. "If you two go anywhere else, they're just going to drag you back here. We need to end this."

"Yes," said Puck, moving the finger to point at Mustardseed.

A wave of terror washed over Sabrina. "Yeah, I like my plan better."

"No, he's right—ow," Puck said thickly, and then before Mustardseed or Sabrina could react, he struggled to pull off his shirt, getting stuck in it in the process. "And besides, they're probably on our way and if we leave now then we're just—ow—leaving Faerie unprotected…oh no, what is that?"

Finally free of the shirt, he turned back to Mustardseed and Sabrina and pointed to a livid purple mark on his chest that looked like a badly done tattoo of the letter _X_.

Sabrina winced. "I suppose that Sycorax left you an actual, physical mark."

"Do you think it'll go away?" Puck asked, poking it. "Ow!"

"Probably not if you keep poking it," Sabrina said with a scowl.

"Okay, okay, we've got to make a plan!" Mustardseed said. "Where is somewhere that's in Faerie but out of the way enough so that no one gets hurt?"

An earsplitting crash sounded from the room above their heads.

"Oh look, they were off by a floor," said Puck, shaking his head as if to clear it. He did a strange little hop, as if attempting to fly away, but staggered instead. "Okay, I need a minute. What was in that potion you gave me?"

Mustardseed rolled his eyes, looked around one more time, and then grabbed Sabrina and Puck by the arms and shot out of the chamber, flying in the opposite direction of the throne room.

"We need to go to my room!" Puck cried. "I don't have a weapon! Grimm, do you still have your sword?"

"No, don't you think that I would've used it if I'd had it in the Lost Cave?" Sabrina snapped, her arm going numb in Mustardseed's grip. The panic was beginning to build.

"Oh, right," said Puck.

With a sigh, Mustardseed took a sharp left at the end of the passage they were in and flew at breakneck speed before dumping Puck and Sabrina on the carpet outside of a large door. Puck led the way inside, abandoning Sabrina and Mustardseed to dive for a large wardrobe across the room. Before Sabrina could think of some joke to make about needing a scepter or a fancy cloak, he'd thrown it open to reveal an alarming assortment of swords, shields, bows and arrows, and daggers.

While he crashed around in the closet, Sabrina shut and locked the door and then looked around the rest of the room. It was weird to think of Puck having a bedroom here, a strange reminder of the way he led some double or triple life, splitting himself between Faerie and Ferryport Landing and Uncle Jake's tent.

It was also clear that this was not a place he frequented. The floor was spotless, the bed made, the mirror free of smudges. There were no pictures on the walls, and clearly no place to put his clothing.

"Grimm!" Puck called, and tossed her a sheathed sword. "I think you'll like this one. It handles like yours."

Sabrina caught it and unsheathed it, weighing it in her hands. Mustardseed took a giant step back as she swung it around experimentally. It was a little foreign, but not bad.

Someone banged hard on the door.

"Yeah, good enough!" Sabrina agreed hastily, following Mustardseed as he ran to one of the room's giant windows. "Puck, come on!"

Puck emerged with a bow and quiver strapped to his back and a regal-looking sword in hand. Sabrina pushed the window open and reached for him.

A shiver ran up Sabrina's spine as the banging on the door was replaced by several meticulous clicks. The door popped open without complaint and swung inward to reveal Moth, brandishing Kladenets.

Puck's eyes narrowed. "This is your last warning, Moth. Go back into exile, or face my wrath!"

Even to Sabrina, the threat sounded feeble. She was frozen, one foot on the window ledge, waiting for someone else to make a move.

A cruel smile curled across Moth's face. She shut the door behind her with a snap.

"I spent my entire life waiting around for you, Trickster King. I won't wait any longer. By sundown, I'll wear the crown and you'll be floating in the river like poor Oberon."

Moth let out an animal shriek and lunged across the room.


	12. At Death's Door

"Go!" Mustardseed roared, practically pushing Puck and Sabrina out the window of Puck's room before turning to block Moth's attack.

"Don't try to hold her off!" Puck hollered as they fell. By some miracle, he'd regained control of his head, and began to flap upward, toward the roof of the large warehouse that housed part of Faerie. Sabrina looked down and watched Mustardseed and Moth pop out below them, fighting as they rose.

The alarm bells were back in Sabrina's head. Where was Ariel?

Her question was answered when they landed on the roof. Ariel was pacing on the far side, clad all in black except for the wicked midnight blue of the blade in his hands. The very sight of him made Sabrina's blood run cold.

He was watching the city and did not acknowledge them. Puck and Sabrina ran to the middle of the roof, next to the small structure with a door on it that led back down into the building. A heady cocktail of adrenaline and anxiety was mixing in Sabrina's veins as she ran, watching the sunlight bounce off of Ariel's blade.

Mustardseed bowed out first, dropping onto the roof, and Moth shot over their heads to land next to Ariel.

"Give up!" Mustardseed yelled over the wind as he joined them, bleeding from a cut on his shoulder. "There are guards on their way!"

"Your guards had the fortune of meeting Kladenets before you!" Moth screamed in return, throwing her arms out to the sides. "No one is coming to save you! Now, are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?"

An arrow from Puck's quiver whizzed over Sabrina's shoulder toward the pair of them and she jumped backwards, her body slamming into the wall, her heart slamming a violent tattoo against her ribcage. Laughing maniacally, Moth ducked and it went right over her head.

"Sorry," Puck muttered, stringing the bow again.

"No worries," Sabrina replied, her voice an octave higher than usual. She readjusted her grip on the hilt of her sword and swallowed hard. She was way out of her league up here, a frail, wingless human surrounded by the vast open sky and several ancient, powerful beings.

She reached out and tried the handle of the door that led into the stairwell. It was locked.

"You were never good with a bow!" Moth screeched, pointing Kladenets at Puck and then swinging it in an elegant arc over her head. Without turning around, Ariel held his hand out, and the two exchanged blades. As soon as Kladenets was in his hands, he launched himself into the air and twisted to face them.

Abandoning the bow, Puck shot skyward, brandishing his own sword. Sabrina felt beads of sweat gather at her hairline. Puck was good, but no match for an enchanted sword. Not for long.

"Mustardseed," Sabrina said, wheeling and grabbing his arm. "Go get help!"

He was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, ready to join the fight, his mouth twisted in a grimace. The sound of her voice made him flinch.

"I don't want to leave you. You'll have no way down," he replied.

"Well, I won't need a way down if we win! Go!" Sabrina snapped, giving him a nudge. Mustardseed nodded and ran and threw himself off the roof, wings unfurling as he went down.

Realizing that Moth could be coming to attack her at any moment, she spun around with her sword at the ready, but the other girl was rooted to her spot. She was watching her accomplice fight Puck with a hungry look on her face. The way she was basking in the chaos she'd created both scared Sabrina and made her angry.

Sabrina wasn't about to just let Moth stand out of harm's way and gloat. Before she could psych herself out, she ran at her. Moth snapped out of whatever trance she'd been in when she sensed Sabrina coming, and she parried her attack with fury. She backed Sabrina across the roof, slashing and thrusting.

"You are a child compared to me! You can't win," Moth said, her beautiful features now twisted into a snarl as she stabbed at her. "Give up now and I'll make your death quick and painless!"

Sabrina wondered for a brief moment if the unenchanted sword that Moth was wielding was powerful enough to kill an Everafter, and then decided she didn't want to find out.

"That would be convenient for you, wouldn't it?" Sabrina snapped back, dodging and narrowly avoiding a slash aimed for her face.

"Above our heads," Moth began with a grunt, dropping to a crouch and springing up at the perfect moment to cut Sabrina's sword arm. "Your lover is about to die. Don't you care to watch him perish?"

Sabrina gritted her teeth against the pain and resisted the urge to look up. Moth was toying with her, she had to believe it, or she'd get distracted and Moth would run her through with her sword.

They fought, dancing across the roof underneath Puck and Ariel. At one point Moth tried to fly and attack her from above, but landed quickly after Sabrina swung her sword in a reckless arc above her head and nicked her ankle.

"You can't keep this pace up forever, peasant," Moth hissed, as if she could sense Sabrina tiring. "I've been waiting for this moment for years."

A new pulse of fear coursed through Sabrina at the thought of Moth holed up in the Far North, daydreaming of killing her. Like when she'd fought the Kuli-Baba, Sabrina found herself reluctant to fatally injure Moth, even though her opponent kept aiming for her heart. She tried to disable her instead, occasionally lashing out with her foot. After a few fruitless kicks, she got Moth in the ribs and her opponent doubled over.

"That's for Uncle Jake!" Sabrina yelled, bringing down the flat of her sword on Moth's head. "And that's for Daphne!"

Moth roared and lashed out. Sabrina felt a burning pain in her side and gritted her teeth.

"That one was for me!" Moth screeched as Sabrina backed away, pressing on the wound.

"I didn't do anything to you!" Sabrina yelled, feeling warmth as blood leaked between her fingers. "Why do you want to be Queen, anyway?"

Moth looked startled by the question, as if she'd never asked herself this, and for a moment Sabrina thought she was going to lower her sword and give an answer. But then she charged, and Sabrina found herself running around the roof to avoid her. It felt like a cluster of bees were stinging her side every time she breathed in.

She forced herself to think around the pain. Moth's moment of hesitation had given Sabrina an idea, and she kept babbling as she ran.

"You really want to rule Faerie? And with Ariel, no less? That sounds like the most awful way to spend eternity."

"Ariel will be a great King!" Moth hissed, doing a long flying leap and landing in front of Sabrina.

"Oh yeah, he's really easy to control, isn't he? You know everything about him, don't you? About his wife?"

A flush was appearing on Moth's cheeks, whether from embarrassment or exertion, Sabrina didn't know.

"Obviously!" she cried, her voice dripping with contempt.

As they slashed and parried, Sabrina continued, "If you become Queen, you're chained to him for eternity."

"I know!" Moth roared. She dropped her sword and lunged at Sabrina, knocking her over. Her vision went gray and hazy, and she punched blindly. By the time her sight had returned, Moth was bleeding from the lower lip and nose, but had Sabrina in a headlock. She yelled, "Ariel, I need Kladenets!"

Sabrina struggled, biting Moth's arm and twisting, but the girl held on. Overhead, Ariel looked down at them but ignored her request, choosing to attack Puck again instead.

"Ariel!" Moth roared. "Give me the sword!"

The stairwell door burst open and Mustardseed appeared, followed by Henry and Uncle Jake.

"Stay back!" Moth warned them, and they did, all heads swiveling as they assessed the situation. Her voice reached a pitch so high it hurt Sabrina's ears. " _Ariel, get down here!_ "

"What an asset," Sabrina remarked, her brain working overtime, and then grimaced as Moth tightened her hold. She croaked to Moth, "Don't let him control you."

"Shut up, peasant!"

Ariel swept away from Puck and landed beside Moth. Sabrina flinched as Ariel raised the sword. She could hear her family yelling, but their voices were distant. She was in too much pain to process the fact that she was about to die. Instead, she felt very detached from her body, and all of her energy was focused on listening to what Moth was saying.

"No, I want to do it," Moth argued before Ariel could deal the killing blow. Across the roof, Puck landed and started to run toward them. Uncle Jake and Henry detached themselves from the door and began to run as well, but Sabrina knew they would never reach them in time to help her.

Ariel ignored her, his cruel eyes narrowing in delight as he swung the sword above his head in a flourish.

"Ariel, listen to me," Moth snapped, reaching out and grabbing his wrist with her free hand. Her hold on Sabrina loosened, giving Sabrina an out, but Sabrina could sense what was about to happen and waited for the right moment.

The delight on Ariel's face turned to rage so quickly that Sabrina missed the transition.

"Don't tell me what to do, woman!" Ariel roared, striking her across the face. "I could kill you just as easily!"

"How _dare_ you!" Moth screamed, and Sabrina rolled out of the way as Moth sprang at Ariel, fighting like her life depended on it. With her windpipe free, Sabrina was beginning to come back to her senses. She crabwalked toward her family, fighting the urge to throw up, and Uncle Jake and Henry grabbed her arms and pulled her up. Henry wrapped his arms around her, and she could feel him breathing unevenly, like he was struggling not to cry. A few steps away, Uncle Jake had a hand on Puck's jacket, pulling him back.

"Wait. See where this goes," he muttered in Puck's ear. Then he turned to Sabrina, looking desperate and haggard. "I don't know what you did, but you're a genius."

Henry looked about ready to strangle his brother. Sabrina pulled herself away from her dad and didn't respond, still queasy. She might have saved herself, for now, but it was very hard to tell what was going on. Moth and Ariel were specks in the sky.

From very, very far overhead, something fell.

Puck realized what it was first. "Everyone in the stairwell!" He bellowed, and they all piled in as Kladenets landed with a vicious clatter thirty feet away.

Ariel was unarmed.

Without thinking, Puck and Sabrina both raced from safety to grab it. Before they could reach it, Moth swooped down with alarming speed and snatched it off the roof. She made eye contact with Sabrina and Sabrina saw something new there—something burning with fury, a new kind of determination.

"I'm going to go find my bow," Puck said and veered away, leaving Sabrina to stare up at the sky. Henry, Uncle Jake, and Mustardseed ran to join her. Above them, Ariel was shooting toward Moth, but pulled back abruptly when he saw that she was now wielding both of their swords.

"You're nothing without me!" Moth said, rising again, her wings the color of crystals in the light. "There's no use in turning on me!"

"I am everything!" Ariel roared in return, his voice echoing around the sky. "I am more powerful than you ever will be! Your life is as meaningless as that of a gnat! You chase shadows of your past! Pathetic!"

He dove and landed on top of Puck, breaking his bow in half. Puck punched him in the jaw, but a returning punch from Ariel right over the mark left by Sycorax made him scream.

"Give me Kladenets, and I'll kill him for you!" Ariel bellowed as Puck writhed as his feet. Moth swooped low, a cold smile on her face, and then rose again when Henry ran at her. "I'll kill them all!"

Ariel didn't topple over when Mustardseed launched himself at him. Instead, he grabbed him by the arm and threw him aside. Mustardseed sailed through the air and then hit the railing that fenced the roof. He tried to get back up, but Moth landed hard beside him and struck him in the ribs with her hilt.

"I am the most powerful of all the Fair Folk!" Ariel continued, giving Puck a swift kick as he tried to rise. "I will rule you all!"

"You're crazy!" Sabrina screamed, struggling to watch him and Moth at the same time.

Ariel spun in search of her voice. "You are the weakest!" he replied, spit flying as he spoke. He strode towards Sabrina, who took an instinctive step back. In the distance, Moth charged Uncle Jake, who disappeared and re-appeared behind Sabrina, twisting a red ring on his finger.

"Stay away from her!" Henry yelled, throwing himself into the fray. Ariel dealt a hard blow to the side of his head, and Henry crumpled like a rag doll.

"Dad!" Sabrina cried, cursing herself for not warning her father of Ariel's fearsome strength. She looked around frantically for her sword. It lay on the roof where Moth had held her in a headlock, and she ran toward it, away from Ariel, and away from Moth.

"Over here!" Uncle Jake called, drawing Ariel's attention away from Sabrina. He whipped a wand out of his overcoat and pointed it at Ariel, but before he could do anything, Ariel lunged at him and threw him into the stairwell. The crash made Sabrina turn around just in time to see Uncle Jake disappear down the staircase.

Sabrina clenched her shaking fists. Mustardseed was a heap far away. Henry did not move, and Uncle Jake did not appear in the stairwell. To Sabrina's right, past Henry, Puck was curled on his side, his back to Sabrina. Moth stood a few feet away from Mustardseed, her forehead narrowed in concentration as she stared at the back of Ariel's head, as if she was trying to make a decision. For a moment, Sabrina watched her in confusion, and then Ariel moved and Sabrina jumped into a defensive stance.

Ariel and Sabrina made eye contact, and the hungry smile returned. His shoulders relaxed and the lines on his forehead smoothed out. "The first to die, how unfortunate. You won't get to watch anyone else perish."

Moth laughed. Sabrina forced down a wave of nausea.

"Go back to where you came from." Her voice trembled and she pressed her free hand against her wounded side again as a fresh wave of pain coursed through her abdomen.

"Darling!" Ariel hollered over his shoulder. "I'm ready to behead them! Come give me the sword!"

Smirking, Moth drew closer. She strode past the stairwell, towards Ariel, her shoulders thrown back. The two of them exuded confidence. All three of them knew it—Moth and Ariel had won.

The hilt grew slick in Sabrina's hands. She'd failed—they were going to die. She'd fight, of course, but against the enchanted sword, well…she'd fight. She'd fight to save her family, and Puck, and all of Faerie, since they were all pretty much goners, once Moth and Ariel were in charge. Sabrina's arms trembled and blue began to creep into the edges of her vision.

 _Stay conscious,_ she ordered herself. _You're the last hope._

"Take your time, look around, all of this will soon be ours," Moth was saying to Ariel, dropping his blue sword carelessly next to Henry.

All Sabrina could see was Ariel and his sick grin as he sized her up like a piece of meat. She didn't want him to be the last thing she thought about before she died.

 _Think of Daphne_ , she commanded herself, and tears sprang into her eyes as images of her smiling sister filled her mind. She blinked them away. At least Daphne wasn't here right now. She'd made the right call there.

Ariel smiled almost kindly at Moth and held out his hand. "We've done it," he told her.

Across the roof, out of sight of Moth and Ariel, Puck got to his feet, his body shaking violently. The X on his chest pulsed like a dying heartbeat.

Moth sighed, smiling too, and then took another step and shoved Kladenets deep into Ariel's stomach.

Ariel let out an unnatural cry and doubled over. Moth leaned in close to him, the smile turning into a scowl as her hand pushed and twisted on the hilt.

"No one double crosses me," she hissed, and then yanked the sword out of him with some difficulty, so that Ariel fell to the ground. Sabrina backed away in horror as he writhed, coughing and wheezing. Moth watched him impassively.

Puck backed slowly toward Sabrina, his eyes on Moth. He stopped by Henry on the way to check his pulse and scoop up the sword Moth had dropped by him, stumbling over his shoelaces in the process.

"No one," Moth repeated sternly as Ariel grew still, and she crouched down to wipe Kladenets off on Ariel's pants. Then she turned toward Sabrina, murder in her gray eyes, and any hope that Sabrina had of a peaceful reconciliation was dashed.

"Give up, Moth. You're outnumbered," Sabrina said, her words sounding feeble in her own ears.

Moth smirked, the callous expression on her face flickering into anger and back as Puck closed the distance and stood at Sabrina's side.

"How could I be outnumbered when I have Kladenets?" The fairy girl stood, holding Kladenets carelessly at her side, and took a single step toward them.

"Did you do that?" Puck whispered in Sabrina's ear, gesturing at Ariel.

"No, she did," Sabrina said.

"Oh, boy," Puck muttered, and raised his sword.

"You think your human would have the courage to kill anybody?" Moth scoffed.

"Look, Moth, it's over," Puck told her loudly, although most of the power behind this statement was removed by the way he was swaying on his feet. "You have no King."

"I could," Moth said softly, cocking her head. Her wings popped out and fluttered, lifting her off the ground for a brief moment. "You can still follow your destiny."

"What destiny?" Puck asked, blinking. Moth watched him like a hungry lioness, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

"Me. Us. Together, we would be the most powerful pair in the history of Faerie," Moth said, her voice soft and sultry as she stood over the body of the ally she'd slain.

"You are unbelievable," Sabrina muttered under her breath, her queasiness returning.

"Over my dead body," Puck hissed, reaching out behind him reflexively for Sabrina. Mouth twisting, Moth rocked forward on the balls of her feet as if she was going to attack, but did not make a move.

Sabrina tensed. It was the act of reining herself in that alarmed Sabrina even more than the threat of the sword in her hand.

"Does it look like I'd have a problem with that?" Moth hissed, pointing at Ariel. "I just defeated the legend of the Far North! You'll never beat Kladenets! I'm giving you an out, Puck, because we're a match whether you like it or not! Join me or perish!"

"I'm the Trickster King," Puck snapped, finding his balance and drawing himself up to his full height. "You're a shell of a person who hired a thug to do your dirty work, and then killed him. I could beat you any day, with any blade."

She took one threatening step forward, her cold eyes flashing with malice. "We both know that's a lie. I know you don't want to die, Trickster King. There's room for you in my kingdom. Abandon the Grimm girl!"

Moth was making too much sense for her liking. If Kladenets was nearly unbeatable, then there were two possible outcomes.

Either she, Sabrina, would die, or she and Puck would both die.

In the distance, the sun began to set. The sky turned to orange.

Sabrina knew what she had to do.

"Never," Puck growled, stepping toward Moth, and Sabrina's heart did a flip flop.

Moth threw back her head and laughed. "So that's what it'll be? After millennia of freedom and childhood, it's love, a feeble human emotion, that will be your downfall?"

Puck had reached the end of his tether. "One more word, Outcast, and I'll slit your throat."

"Puck!" Sabrina barked, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. "Moth, you coward, your fight's not with him."

And once again, Sabrina was running toward Moth, dread settling on her chest like a coat of frost.

"Sabrina, no!" Puck roared.

They clashed again and again, a whirl of steel and skin. A shadow passed above their heads and then Puck was falling to the ground behind Moth. For a brief moment hope rose in Sabrina's chest—perhaps they would win, after all, but Moth had sensed him coming. Before he could land, she turned and jumped into him, sending them both flying through the air. They slammed into the wall that encased the stairwell, still airborne, the side of Moth's blade hovering a millimeter away from his throat, an elbow pushing into his chest. Sabrina cursed inwardly.

"Grimm, if I can't be Queen, then neither can you," Moth said, her voice deadpan, her arm steady, her wings flapping idly. "Let me hear you drop your sword."

Puck and Sabrina made eye contact over her shoulder.

"Don't do it," he wheezed. "Defend yourself, don't do it."

 _There was no way that Moth was about to kill Puck,_ Sabrina told herself, would have believed her own words five minutes ago, but the way Moth had just killed Ariel in cold blood paralyzed her. Now was not the time to gamble on the fairy girl's sanity. The sword hit the ground with a loud clatter. She would have to distract Moth some other way.

"Good," Moth murmured. "What'll it be, Trickster King? Who dies? You or her?"

Puck answered without hesitation. "Me."

Moth's head jerked back in shock. "What?" she asked, and Sabrina had expected shades of anger in her voice but instead heard disappointment.

Puck snarled, his eyes full of fire, "You must have seen that answer coming. I'm not like you, Moth, I don't dispose of the people who matter! Just kill me and get it over with, then, because I'll never sacrifice her for you!"

He spat the last few words at her. Sabrina's stomach lurched, and before her brain could catch up with her body, she was scooping up her sword and sprinting toward Moth with no plan other than to stop her.

Moth gave a cry of fury and punched Puck hard in the face.

But before Sabrina could close the distance, Moth followed up with a punch to the stomach and then dropped him. He crumpled at the base of the wall.

"I'll deal with you later," she snapped, landing and whirling around to meet Sabrina's attach. Fueled by fury, Sabrina drove her away from the wall and Puck, back to the open roof, thrusting and slashing in a reckless way. She forgot all about the fact that Kladenets was enchanted, forgot to be afraid, and put all of her remaining strength into subduing Moth. As the sun went down, it was getting difficult to see the blades moving.

Sabrina jumped to avoid a low swipe from Moth and then thrust. Moth ducked to avoid a blow aimed for her head, stepped backwards, and tripped over Ariel's body, which was now still. She fell down, dropping her sword.

Sabrina stepped over Ariel, kicked away Kladenets, and then leveled her own sword with Moth's throat.

"I should kill you," she said, her voice unsteady, arm trembling now from rage instead of exhaustion. She thought of the people she loved, scattered dead or unconscious around the roof, and tried to do it for them.

Moth gave a derisive snort, holding Sabrina's gaze. "You won't."

A new, loud voice spilled out of the stairwell, startling them both.

"Who wants to tell me why I have an unconscious Grimm in my stair—oh my _heavens!_ "

Titania stood in the doorway, flanked by the two Fairy Godfathers from earlier. Her arrival made Sabrina freeze. Moth, too, went unnaturally still.

Silence spread across the roof. Over the sound of the wind, Sabrina could hear Titania's heels clicking. She watched Moth's eyes follow the Queen's movements and flinched as she felt the Queen come up behind her.

"Well, are you going to do it or not?" Titania murmured in Sabrina's ear. Sabrina laid the tip of Kladenets on Moth's throat, feeling the give of her skin.

 _Do it,_ Sabrina told herself, but again thought of Daphne. Daphne wouldn't.

"No," she said, suddenly very aware of how much it hurt to breathe.

She expected Titania to scoff or grab the sword from her, but the Queen merely folded her arms. "What do you propose, then?"

The tip of the sword dipped and rose again as a wave of exhaustion made Sabrina's arm shake. She was so surprised that Titania had asked her opinion that for a moment her mind went blank.

 _Kill her_ , she wanted to say. It would be easy, to give the order, to watch someone else do it. She'd be gone then, gone to a place where she could never hurt another person. But there was something in Moth's eyes—maybe the look of a trapped animal, maybe the look of someone who had just watched everything worth fighting for crumble before her—that made Sabrina hesitate.

She could go back into exile. There was both punishment and mercy in that. But that was hard to justify when Sabrina thought about what Moth's actions in the Far North had brought them. It had brought them Ariel, and Sabrina knew she would never really get over her fear of him, even though he was dead. It had brought injury, and perhaps death, to the people Sabrina loved. But most of all, Moth had opened a door that had let evil spill into their lives. Sabrina would never be able to go back to a time when she didn't know that the Kuli-Baba ate Bog Hags out of malice, that the Nightingale killed in cold blood, that vampires still practiced black magic in the pits of the earth. Sending Moth back into exile would be like leaving that door wide open for more evil to come through. They had put her somewhere where they could watch her. Somewhere where Sabrina herself could check up on her, make sure that that door had closed.

"Lock her up," Sabrina replied, feeling the decision settle the queasiness in her stomach. "Don't send her back into exile."

Moth's mouth twisted and Sabrina thought she might cry, but then she said, "Titania, you have to let me go! They dragged me here against my will and tried to kill me!"

A crease appeared on the Queen's forehead.

"You are _liosta dubh_ ," she hissed. "My sons know better than to drag an exile back here."

She snapped her perfectly manicured fingers, and the Fairy Godfathers appeared. As they pulled Moth up, she spat at Sabrina's feet.

"This isn't over. This is the second time you've cost me a kingdom," she growled, and then they were dragging her away.

Titania watched them go with pursed lips. Once they were out of sight, she turned to Sabrina.

"Tell me what just happened, and don't lie, because I'll know if you do."

Sabrina's mouth went dry. "Well, the short version is that Moth and Ariel teamed up to kill me and Puck because they want to rule Faerie."

Titania raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. "Why you?"

"I don't know," Sabrina said, the edges of her vision going fuzzy. She was still trying to wrap her head around everything that had just happened. "Then Ariel knocked everyone out and Moth killed him and you showed up."

Now that the adrenaline was fading, Sabrina began to feel her injuries again. Her side was on fire, her head ached, and it hurt to breath. And the others...was everyone okay? Puck's sword slipped through her numb fingers and she rested her hands on her knees, gritting her teeth.

Titania was frowning at her in suspicion. "Sabrina, are you sure that _Moth_ killed Ariel? What side is he on? Should we resuscitate him?"

"No, don't!" Sabrina cried, wincing because the shout had hurt. "Yes, I'm sure. Titania…my family…and Puck and Mustardseed…call a medic…"

And then world tilted and everything went black.

 **A/N: Hi again! I was so excited to post this chapter yesterday but then a thunderstorm knocked out my power. It's the first one of the year, and I forgot how LOUD thunder is. Oh my gosh, one thunderclap scared the pants off me while I was editing and made me delete an entire paragraph by accident.**

 **Anyways, we've reached the climax! I've never made it this far in a story before, so I'm very excited. We are rapidly approaching the end, which is bittersweet. I'd like to thank quillandspindle for unofficially beta'ing this chapter for me because I didn't know if it was working or not, and everyone who reviewed the last chapter!**

 **Please take a moment to let me know if you liked this chapter, it really means a lot!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Shouldercookie: It's great to hear from you again! I hope you liked it!**

 **Octavia: Thank you! So glad to hear you've been reading it!**

 **Guest(5/15/17): I'm glad to be back! And thank you, I'm glad you liked this chapter! Sorry about the death, I felt guilty writing it but it had to happen. I know you didn't get any romantic moments in this chapter, but they're coming!**

 **Lilly: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you like it! Sorry for leaving you in suspense, haha. I tried to get this chapter out faster than the last one!**


	13. The Girl who Broke Him

_Daphne_

By the time they got to the roof, about half of Faerie's medical staff had arrived. Daphne had landed in Faerie with her parents, her uncle, and Granny Relda earlier in the day. After interrogating one useless Fairy Godfather, they'd split up—the men had gone up, and the women had gone down. They were searching the archives a half a mile beneath Faerie when Uncle Jake had checked in on the watch he'd lent to Veronica. Daphne had listened to the conversation with something like static buzzing in her ears. Jake and Henry had run into a frantic Mustardseed. The kids were on the roof. Moth and Ariel had come to kill.

It had taken them a long time to catch up. There were a lot of staircases in Faerie, and, for reasons Daphne couldn't comprehend, a lot of them led to dead ends. Each consecutive wrong turn increased Daphne's anxiety levels until she was sweating and covered in goose bumps. To add to the stress, Granny Relda was not as speedy as she used to be, and Daphne felt like she was about to spontaneously combust from fear and energy every time she had to wait for the others at the top of a flight.

After an eternity of searching, the Grimm women reached their destination. At the bottom of the final flight, Daphne paused, terrified of what she was about to discover. What if someone had died? Was it her fault, for suggesting they should split up?

She felt like she was on her way to the gallows as she climbed that last set of stairs. At the top, her stomach twisted and her knees went weak when she saw the team of medics hovering several yards away like a swarm of bees. A line of bodies lay at their feet.

For a moment walking seemed impossible, and then the spell was broken and she was sprinting across the roof, her eyes fixed on the glimmer of blonde hair visible between booted feet.

She wanted to yell, to demand an explanation, but her throat might have been closing.

"What's—are they…?"

One of the medics turned at the sound of her voice, the calculating look in his slanted eyes melting into pity. He stepped aside. "They're alive. They're unconscious."

The medics had laid Puck, Sabrina, Uncle Jake, and Henry in a neat line on the roof as they worked, delicate fingers flying, eyes crinkled in concentration. Mustardseed was hunched nearby, cradling a goblet of acid green potion. He was watching Daphne with haunted eyes but didn't say a word.

But Daphne didn't need a voice to explain anything. Her stomach had dropped through the roof below her and fallen all the way down through Faerie. She clapped a hand over her mouth and blinked back tears that had sprung into her eyes as she moved to stand by her sister.

Sabrina was lying on her back, unconscious, eyes closed. She was so still that she looked like a doll, if dolls were covered in rust-colored streaks of blood. The only sign of life was that her lip was actively bleeding. Daphne couldn't imagine how much blood she'd lost.

Veronica let out a noise that was somewhere between a gasp and a sob and knelt beside her eldest child, pushing the locks of hair off her face and stroking her cheek. Daphne hadn't noticed that she and Granny Relda had followed her.

On Sabrina's right lay Henry and Uncle Jake. They looked relatively unscathed. An ugly bruise adorned Henry's temple, and another medic was rubbing salve on Uncle Jake's arm, which was bent at an unnatural angle. A deep gash on his forehead was healing rapidly under a slimy coat of blue salve.

One of the medics moved, and Daphne gasped when she saw Puck, lying on Sabrina's other side. He was covered in wounds, but it was the grotesque letter _X_ that pulsed on his chest with each beat of his heart that drew Daphne's attention.

Belated anger surged through Daphne's chest. Her fingernails dug crescent moons into her palms. How could Sabrina and Puck have been so stupid? How could she have let them go alone?

"Where's Moth?" she hissed. Mustardseed's eyes slid from her face to a spot behind her and she spun on her heel, rising as she turned, the static in her ears increasing to a roar.

Silhouetted by the orange, misty gloom of sunset, Titania stood at the edge of the roof. Facing her was another shadow, younger and slimmer, with a strange shape protruding from its back. Daphne was striding toward them before she was aware of what she was doing.

Moth noticed her first, her cold gray eyes moving from Titania's face to hers. The slight loss of attention was enough to make the Faerie Queen glance over her shoulder, and then do a double take.

"I thought you were unconscious," Titania snapped, releasing Moth's arm. The fairy girl's wings and wrists were bound by shining silver ropes.

Daphne rolled her eyes, some of her anger replaced by surprise. "No, Sabrina's unconscious. Titania, we don't even look alike."

"Your Majesty," whispered a medic who had followed Daphne soundlessly. "Your son."

Titania hissed out a breath. "This isn't over, wench," she snapped at Moth, and then turned to Daphne. "You, stay here."

"Okay," Daphne responded, wary of being left alone with Moth. As soon as the Queen was out of earshot, she turned to the other girl.

Despite the ropes and the bruises, Moth managed a sharklike grin. "Hello, small one. Come to rub it in?"

A tremor ran through Daphne's shoulders like the warning shake before an earthquake. She hadn't known that there was anything she wanted to say to Moth, but suddenly the words were pouring out of her.

"What is your problem?" Her voice came out low and deadly, calculated and cool. She sounded like Sabrina. "What made you think your plan to become Queen would be successful? You _must_ have known that failure would result in your own destruction! And the destruction of a bunch of people who didn't deserve to get hurt."

The other girl's eyes were as hard as flint. "We are alike, Daphne Grimm. You have been cursed with immortality, have you ever thought that through? Someday, ere it be tomorrow or in a thousand years, you'll get sick of living in your older sister's shadow, and then you'll follow in my footsteps. You ask me why I did it. One day you'll understand. And then, you'll know where to find me."

She shook her bound hands meaningfully. Daphne's stomach lurched, and she fought the urge to throw up. "I would never do what you did. I would _never_ turn on my allies, or the place I once called home. Power is never more important than the love of your friends and family."

Moth gave a cold, humorless laugh and replied, "What do you know of love?"

"I know more than you ever will," Daphne hissed, thinking of the way her parents looked at each other, of how fiercely her family protected each other, of the way she felt when she was with Sabrina or Basil. It was Moth who didn't know anything about love. If she was less angry, perhaps she would have felt sadness for this girl who had been groomed to be Queen and nothing more.

The corners of Moth's mouth twitched up in a masklike smile. "That's where you're wrong," she said in a low voice. "You think love triumphs, love wins. The truth is that love destroys. Take your sister, for example. You think this little affair she has going on is going to last? You think it won't end in pain? Mark my words, love is not your ally."

She'd been determined to not let Moth see any emotion other than strength and anger, but this threw her.

"What?" she began, and then pulled herself together. "Puck and Sabrina aren't together. You don't know anything about them."

" _I know more than you ever will_ ," Moth mocked. "You should ask them sometime. And you think I've failed entirely, that this entire plan gave me nothing?"

She held up her hand with some difficulty, as she was bound so tightly. On her palm was a horrid slash, curved like a smile, purple and throbbing just like the mark on Puck's shoulder.

Daphne wrinkled her nose. "What is that?"

A knowing smirk played across Moth's delicate features. "No one told you about Sycorax?"

Loathe to admit she wasn't completely in the loop, Daphne shook her head slowly. Then she listened with growing horror as Moth explained how Sycorax, the witch who had imprisoned Ariel in a tree thousands of years ago, now practiced black magic deep in the earth. She'd helped them give Puck the horrific X and had taken Moth and Ariel's blood.

"So you tied yourself to a creature of pure evil," Daphne said, revolted, when Moth finished. "And you're bragging about it?"

"I tied myself to a creature of _power_ ," Moth corrected. "The Queen thinks this dungeon will hold me for eternity. We'll see."

As Daphne struggled to think of a response, Titania returned with fire in her eyes.

"Grimm, you can go. We're about to send the prisoner away."

Daphne nodded, disliking the way Moth was smirking at her, and retreated to the line of bodies with relief. She could hear her heart throbbing in her ears. Why Moth had dumped all of this information on her was beyond her understanding, and she struggled to sift through it. Had Moth been telling the truth? Or was this all part of an elaborate plan that was bigger than anyone had guessed?

She reached her family as Moth was frog-marched by, gripped by two Fairy Godfathers and led by two more with very large swords.

Veronica looked up from where she sat between Sabrina and Henry, her face streaked with tears and filled with anger. She held out of a hand to Daphne. "What happened?"

Daphne shook her head as she took it and squeezed. "She's insane, Mom."

Granny Relda was crouched over Jake. "Did she mention anything of importance?"

Daphne wasn't sure what to repeat in front of Faerie's medical team. "No," she replied lightly. Partly to change the subject and partially because it had just occurred to her, she said, "Wait, where's Ariel?"

It was Mustardseed who'd raised a heavy hand and pointed at the unmoving shape across the roof, in the opposite direction of where Moth had been standing. Bile rose in Daphne's throat.

"Who killed him?" Veronica asked in a hushed voice.

"Moth," Mustardseed replied tiredly. All three conscious Grimm women gasped.

"What?" Daphne asked. "Why?"

"We don't know," Titania answered, rematerializing next to Puck. She seemed to tower over everyone else on the ground. "That's all Sabrina said before she passed out. She's the one who subdued Moth, you know. Without her, both of my sons could have died."

Uncharacteristically, Titania's mouth twisted, and she turned away to watch the sinking sun disappear over the horizon. A medic snapped his fingers, and like a swarm of fireflies, hundreds of pixies swelled far above the building and ghosted downward, creating a floating ceiling of light above them. It was a scene straight out of a fairytale, save for the bodies.

 _A scene that belonged in the tales of the Brothers Grimm,_ Daphne thought with a sickening twist of her stomach. Her eyes moved from Ariel to her father to the blood that coated Sabrina's body. For the first time, her father's original logic to keep his daughters away from Everafters was crystal clear.

Angry at herself, Daphne rolled her shoulders , sloughing off the negative thoughts and the sudden chill that had fallen with the pixies in one move. She knew better than that. A glint caught her attention and she noticed Kladenets, lying at Uncle Jake's feet. Numbly, Daphne wandered over and picked it up. The blade was red. She dropped it in disgust.

Mustardseed's muffled cry made her turn around. Puck was awake, and struggling to sit up. Even from a few steps away Daphne could tell that the bright light that usually made his eyes shine had been snuffed out.

He moved in slow motion as he twisted from side to side, assessing in the situation, taking in his fallen comrades. One hand went to Sabrina's wrist like an automatic reaction to what he saw. Remembering Moth's words, Daphne wondered if this was supposed to be a romantic gesture, and then realized he was feeling for a pulse.

Titania said the words that Daphne was having trouble forming. "They're all alive."

"Is she dead?" he asked, drawing back his hand and curling it against his chest. When his mother's gaze hardened in exasperation, he clarified, "Moth."

"No," Mustardseed replied hoarsely, sagging against the wall behind him. Puck, clenching the hand into a fist, turned first to him and then to Titania for an explanation.

Titania crossed her arms. "Sabrina didn't want us to kill her. She's in the dungeons."

A ghost of a smile flitted across Puck's features, and he accepted a goblet identical to the one Mustardseed was nursing. Unlike his brother, he downed it in two gulps.

"Puck, what happened? Why did Moth kill Ariel?" Although Moth had been removed and Puck had woken, the sharp urgency had not faded from Titania's voice.

Puck gave his mother a blank look, setting the goblet down. "I don't know. Maybe she thought he was too powerful. After she killed him, she tried to convince me to make her Queen."

He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temple as if the very idea gave him a migraine.

"Is this thing going to go away?" He asked before anyone could think of a response, pointing to the crude _X_ on his chest.

One of the doctors inclined his head without looking up from the wound on Sabrina's side. "We're going to have to sedate you to do some work on it."

Daphne wasn't convinced that Puck had heard him. His eyes had been drawn again to Ariel. Setting down the goblet, he got to his feet and staggered over to him. Daphne and one of the other medics followed warily.

"I wasn't positive," he said to Daphne, staring down at the body of their enemy. "I wasn't positive he was really dead. Looks like hell isn't empty of its demons anymore."

He let out a hollow laugh that sounded more like a sob, and Daphne wondered what he meant.

"Your Majesty," said the medic who had come with them. Puck didn't react, just continued to stare at Ariel's body, until Daphne nudged him.

"He means you," she said under her breath.

Grimacing, Puck turned around. "What?"

"We have to sedate you," the doctor replied. "To remove the Mark of Sycorax."

Puck turned a delicate shade of green but squared his shoulders. "All right."

The fairies were conjuring floating stretchers. Daphne watched them load her family members onto them. Before Puck could protest, the doctor behind him placed a hand on his shoulder. He crumpled gracelessly onto the stretcher and was still.

"I don't get it," Daphne said as the fairies moved the stretchers to the stairwell in a silent procession, "I feel like Moth would rather die than try to get Puck back on her side. She hates him."

"She doesn't," Granny Relda replied wearily. "And besides, Kladenets enhances your strengths and weaknesses alike. Puck was always Moth's weakness."

The corners of Daphne's mouth twitched downward as she looked from the sleeping fairy boy to her sister, floating out of sight down the stairwell. "Sabrina's, too, given the state she was in when Titania found her."

Granny sighed. "Sabrina would have done that for any one of us. Titania, where are my children and grandchild being taken?"

Titania turned her sharp gaze on Granny Relda. "The infirmary. They may be there for a while."

"I want them home."

The Queen's mouth twisted. "I'll see what I can do."

"Titania," Daphne said as the Queen turned to leave. "Mom, Granny. You should know what Moth said to me."

* * *

 _Sabrina_

The first thing that Sabrina felt was her tongue. It felt thick and fuzzy, larger than her mouth, and then she was swallowing hard to get the feeling to go away. As she came to and regained feeling in her body, she became very aware of her shoulder-blades and heels pressing into her bed. This was odd, of course, because Sabrina never slept on her back.

Her eyes fluttered open and a ceiling lined with harsh white bulbs filled her swimming vision. In the back of her throat she felt a surge of panic and she tried to lurch her body upright, but her limbs didn't respond to the command. Pure, undiluted exhaustion made her eyelids fall shut against her will.

A scene flashed across the backs of her eyelids like a lightning bolt that illuminated a thunderclap. Puck, fallen where Moth had dropped him, neck at an unnatural angle, glassy orbs where his eyes had been.

She cried out and reached for him, her fingers twisting in sheets, clinging vainly to consciousness as the darkness sucked her under again.

Daphne's face, pinched in worry, swimming with the lights as the lights swam closer. And Sabrina realized they were not lights, but pixies.

 _Daphne, go away, it's dangerous here._

She reached out for Daphne, but her hand was too heavy and didn't leave the bed.

What if Ariel hadn't died? What if this was all a trap set by Moth? Her brain tried to put the pieces together, but it was so tiring. The darkness was confusing, and all consuming.

Ariel was coming, he was hunting them, he must be. Ariel would hunt them forever. She turned and there he was, wielding his black and blue blade, sprinting across the gray matter that made up oblivion.

"Run," she croaked to her sister, desperate to save her even though she was trapped in this body made of concrete. Sinking back into the quicksand of sleep, she repeated, "Run."

Now the wooden boards that made up the ceiling in her room at Granny's house were overhead, and Sabrina was vaguely aware that she was yelling but didn't know why. Henry— _her father was alive_ —leaned over her, speaking words in a language she didn't understood. And then his face morphed into Ariel's grim scowl, which morphed into Moth's laughing smirk, which became darkness again.

Sabrina did not know where she was when the Valkryie's voice floated through her mind, soft and gentle, soothing a frantic emotion that Sabrina didn't know had been there.

 _"Sabrina, wake up. They're just dreams, fight them off."_

The words were like a jolt of energy. With a massive effort, she opened her eyes again, watching the boards above her come into focus again. Her head felt like it had been filled with wet cotton and her throat was sore. Focusing intently on the boards, her mind battled with itself as it sorted the dreams from reality. Puck was dead… _no!_...Ariel was dead. Puck killed him. Did he? No, surely not. Moth. Moth had killed him. Moth was locked up. Probably. Struggling to silence the turmoil in her head, Sabrina looked around. She was still in her room at Granny Relda's. It was empty except for Puck, who was sitting in a chair next to her bed, his head facedown on her bedspread next to her body. His arm was curved in a way that suggested he'd been holding her hand before he'd fallen asleep, but Sabrina was almost sure she was imagining that. It was a very un-Puck-like thing to do.

Sabrina struggled to sit up and moaned as her head objected. Rubbing her temples, she sensed Puck sit up as well.

"You're awake," he said, his voice full of sleep.

Sabrina clutched her head and grunted, still not positive as to what was happening. As the memory returned, she felt an intense, almost painful twinge of relief. "You're alive," she responded, reaching for him without thinking about it. Her eyes traced his features and took in the deep shadows under his eyes.

"Because of you," he replied softly, and this time there was no mistaking it; he reached out and knotted his fingers through hers, bringing her hand to rest on the sheets.

"Ariel is dead," she said slowly, needing either a confirmation or a denial.

Eyeing her, Puck rattled off, "Ariel is dead, Moth is in the dungeons, Henry is fine, Jake broke his arm, Mustardseed is fine, _you_ have been comatose. Yelling at the top of your lungs, sometimes, but out cold."

"Daphne…?"

Puck rolled his eyes. "…is fine. You're the one everyone's been worried about."

Sabrina relaxed. "What about you? What about that mark?"

"Gone," Puck said with a lightness that didn't reach his eyes. "Again, Grimm, the only person who has been less than okay is you."

A thought that made Sabrina forget how to breath and clench Puck's fingers popped into her mind. "Puck, when you said comatose, did you mean like, _comatose,_ or asleep for a few hours? What day is it?"

She twisted to look out the window. Puck pulled her back around and checked his ugly watch. "Relax. It's Christmas Eve. Three o'clock in the afternoon on Christmas Eve."  
He read the expression on her face and added, "Of this year. It's only been two days."

Sabrina closed her eyes and breathed out, aware that he was watching her like something that was about to break. He thought he knew what was going on in her head—her parents had been asleep for a long time just seven years ago. It wasn't an unreasonable fear.

But layered on top of that was the realization that she had only woken up because of the Valkryie's voice. What would have happened without this mysterious guardian who seemed to appear at just the right time? Would she have woken up at all? Two days was a long time to be unconscious for, regardless. What had been keeping her asleep? She felt basically fine now, alert and energized.

She felt his hand on her cheek and opened her eyes.

"How long have you been in here?" Sabrina asked, her heart doing a somersault as his fingers skimmed her cheekbone, brushing over the ghosts of old wounds.

The tips of Puck's ears reddened. "I moved in when we were eleven, Grimm, I didn't think your memory was _that_ bad."

"No," Sabrina replied, drawing out the word. "In here. Asleep in my room."

"Well, my room's been barricaded since the minor incident with Kladenets and the pixies, and there are approximately eight thousand Grimms in the living room. This is the only comfortable chair left in the house," Puck replied. He said it all very fast, like it was something he'd memorized, or perhaps said before to someone else.

Despite everything, Sabrina cracked a smile. "That chair doesn't belong in here."

Puck pressed his lips together. "Whatever. If I wasn't here, who would have reminded you that you're the one in precarious condition, and everyone else is fine?"

Sabrina battled a smile and lost, but then creased her forehead. "How are you already healed?"

She could tell from the way it hurt to breathe that her side was not.

"Faerie has some of the best medics on the planet," Puck replied, and then added teasingly, "you were a lost cause, though."

Sabrina shot Puck a nasty look, and he smirked as he handed her a cup of water from her nightstand.

"Whose shirt is this?" Sabrina grumbled, accepting it.

As she drank, Puck grumbled, "How can you possibly have so many questions? It's Mustardseed's. He came to just after you passed out. We all woke up wearing his clothing—except Hank, he was the only one who didn't bleed."

He drew in a shaky breath and fell silent.

"You bled a lot," Sabrina said softly, leaning over to replace the water. "And that mark messed with your head pretty badly, at first. I thought—"

She lost the ability to finish her sentence.

Looking more solemn that she had ever seen him, Puck laced his fingers through hers again. "I didn't know if we were going to win that."

Sabrina stared at him, holding her breath. Of course, she'd known how it ended, had watched Moth run Ariel through and then held the tip of her own sword to the fairy girl's throat, but in the world of Everafter it was too easy to imagine an alternative. An alternative where Ariel came back to life after she'd keeled over, an alternative where the way Moth had dropped Puck before their final fight had snapped his neck, an alternative where the Mark of Sycorax had filled his veins with poison and killed him anyways, after all they'd fought for. After spending two days immersed in dreams that had echoed reality in the worst ways, Sabrina thought she would have to look at him for a while before she really believed he was there.

Her hand tugged on his without a command from her brain, and he slid out of the chair and onto her bed. She felt the mattress sink under his weight and tried to get it to register in her head.

"Puck, I couldn't kill her," she blurted out, feeling the prickly guilt that came along with the confession. "I should have—she wanted us dead—but I couldn't. I didn't spare her because I thought she didn't deserve to die, I did it because I just couldn't kill her."

Puck reached out with his free hand and caught a lock of her hair in his fingers. His eyes were clear in the light that shined in from the window.

"Yeah, I know," he replied. "Mother told us. It's okay."

Sabrina sat up straighter, bristling with indignation. The more she talked, the angrier she got with herself. "No, it's not. She deserves to die, especially after what she did to you. To Daphne. To all of us."

Puck considered this, his mouth parted as he thought. "If the roles were reversed, she would have slit your throat before she could stop to think about the consequences."

Sabrina's stomach twisted with guilt. "I know."

"I'm glad you didn't kill her," he said slowly.

"Why?" Sabrina asked before she could stop herself.

Puck's brow knit as he stared at the golden strand wrapped around his index finger like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "She never understood why humans are like this. And if she was here she would call you weak, but that's not what your decision makes you. It makes you stronger than she'll ever be. And she'll never understand strength and because of that she'll never understand why I—"

He breathed out shakily instead of finishing his sentence, but Sabrina felt the words in the core of her being, as intoxicating as an incantation.

 _Wanted you._

A shudder ran through Sabrina's shoulders. She had no idea how to respond to him, but then his mouth was on hers and suddenly words were the last thing on her mind, and answering him was easy.

* * *

 _Sabrina_

A few hours after Sabrina had woken up, Daphne had asked her what she thought Christmas would be like after all the excitement of the past few days. Sabrina had told her the truth—that it would probably be a subdued affair, what with everyone recovering from physical wounds and the shock of survival.

The next morning, Sabrina was decidedly proven wrong. The Grimm family was reveling in the fact that they were all still alive. Sabrina was woken up at the crack of dawn by Basil, Daphne, and Red to open presents. After a round of pancakes in every flavor, Uncle Jake, Puck, and Daphne led a booming chorus of Everafter Christmas carols that Sabrina had never heard before and would have insisted they were making up on the spot, had they not all known the words. Even Hank was more animated than usual, laughing and joking with his brother, who he'd finally forgiven, and kissing Veronica in front of everyone after his fourth glass of wine. Granny Relda cooked a dinner so absurdly large that Henry and Jake had to go find another table to fit it all on. It had started to snow mid-afternoon, and so after dinner they all traipsed outside for an intense, freezing snowball fight that carried on well after the sun went down. When the others were all around the back of the house, Puck pulled Sabrina behind the bushes and kissed her, his lips tasting of snow and pines. They'd pulled away quickly as Basil had come around the corner, and Sabrina had thrown a snowball at Puck to cover the moment. He was grinning so widely that she was sure he hadn't even felt it. After everyone was soaked to the bone and exhausted, they filed back inside and put on an old Claymation Christmas movie. Tobias lit a fire and Granny made hot chocolate, and for the second night in several days the family fell asleep in the living room, content to be together after so much time apart.

The day after Christmas, Sabrina found herself alone in her bedroom, recording her adventures in the Far North in her current journal. It was almost a relief to get away from the concentrated insanity that was her family, but her skin prickled with unease as she wrote. There was the question of honesty, of how much detail to add and what to lie about. Being a Grimm, her natural instinct was to record it all in detail. Being Sabrina, she found herself leaving a lot of stuff out, especially about Puck. As she wrote—she was already up to the day that they opened the Lost Cave and the day they'd agreed that they had a week—she kept thinking about Puck, and how the week they'd talked about was almost up. In fact, she couldn't quite remember the exact day this had all started. Sitting back, she tried to count the days on her fingers, but being knocked out for a while was messing with her sense of time.

Sabrina gave up and scraped her hair into a ponytail to get it out of her face. The exact day didn't matter, the week would be up soon regardless. But Uncle Jake and Puck were still around, and as far as Sabrina knew, they had no intention of leaving. What if they stayed? Going into this, Sabrina had never imagined that Puck could be so gentle, or focused, or mature. The idea of it ending made her stomach twist. What if they didn't have to stop?

She shook her head and refocused, scribbling a sentence about how Moth and Ariel had latched onto them at the last second and entered the cave. It was a struggle just to get herself to write down their names. No one had seen what she had on the roof, the careless way Moth had disposed of Ariel. It had traumatized her, that was for sure. To think that two people who were so invested in each other that they'd agreed to rule a kingdom together could turn on each other so violently made her want to throw up. It was messing with her head. She'd battled nightmare after nightmare last night, and had woken up feeling cold. She'd managed to put her feelings aside to celebrate Christmas, but now that that was over, she was avoiding her family and trying to get all this writing done, hoping it would help her clear her head.

Without warning, the door opened.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Sabrina asked without looking up. The sarcasm in her voice was halfhearted as she finished her thought.

"The Old Lady wants us in the library," Puck's replied as he shut the door behind him. Sabrina jumped at the sound of his voice, accidentally blotting his name in her book. She hadn't known who she was expecting, only that she hadn't been expecting him.

"Right now? What for?" Sabrina asked, shutting the book and extracting herself from her desk chair. He'd moved across the room and was now fidgeting with a little figurine on her desk.

"No idea, but we have a few minutes. She's looking for Jake," Puck explained. "You have something in your hair."

He reached out before she could protest and plucked a crumpled leaf out of her hair.

"Grimm, how do you manage these things in the dead of winter?" he teased, handing it to her.

"I was unpacking," Sabrina replied defensively. "There were a bunch of leaves in my bag because _you_ put them there. What am I supposed to do with this?"

She considered it for a moment and then dropped it in the garbage beside her desk.

Puck's jaw dropped. "It was one of _my_ leaves? Did you throw the other ones out? I was going to add them to my collection!"

Sabrina snorted. "You collect leaves?"

"Yes," Puck grumbled, crossing his arms. "You don't?"

He ducked around her and removed the leaf from the garbage can. "I'll take that!"

"Speaking of…leaves," Sabrina said as he straightened, cringing at the terrible transition. "What are you and Uncle Jake leaving?"

Puck's face grew so serious that Sabrina's gut filled with dread. "Jake got a call a few hours ago. An old friend of his requested his help. In Egypt, the day after tomorrow. Something about the pyramids and warlocks."

"Oh, wow." Sabrina's throat tightened and she looked across the room for something to distract herself. A week ago, she'd known this was coming. Sometime between now and then she'd convinced herself otherwise, and it was her own fault for feeling upset. She knew she sounded bitter and didn't care when she added, "Well, have fun. We should probably go meet Granny."

She brushed past him and strode toward the door.

"Grimm, wait," Puck said, grabbing her arm. He was oddly breathless for someone who had been standing still. "I haven't decided if I'm going."

Sabrina felt a swooping sensation in her stomach, like she'd just dropped down a hill on a roller coaster. She spun around. "What do you mean, you haven't decided? Where else would you go?"

His eyes darted across her face like he was trying to memorize it.

"When we were in Faerie, Mother asked me to stay."

"But you don't want to stay," Sabrina replied blankly.

Puck was silent for so long that Sabrina almost repeated her statement. "I didn't. But then I realized that we'd both be in New York. And…"

His voice trailed off into a silence that was full of unspoken promise.

"And," Sabrina asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper. Her heart started to pound.

"I think I'm going to stay," he said hoarsely. He looked more serious than she had ever seen him.

As much as Sabrina wanted him to stay, she faltered at the look on his face. "Are you sure?"

Before he could answer, the door flew open again. Although they weren't doing anything wrong, Sabrina jumped away from Puck and he took a giant step in the other direction, turning to face the door.

Daphne leaned against the frame, her brow knit in suspicion. In a show of nonchalance, she said, "Hi, guys. Whatcha doin'?"

"Talking about leaves," Sabrina blurted out, her mind too busy processing what Puck had just told her to think of a better excuse. "What are _you_ doing?"

Daphne crossed her arms and stalked forward, her eyes darting between Sabrina and Puck, who glanced at each other quickly before looking away. Sabrina willed the flush to leave her cheeks.

"I'm looking for my…stapler," Daphne replied after a tense moment. She snatched the stapler off of their father's desk and turned to go. "Come on, library time!"

She waited for them in the doorway, stealing glances over her shoulder as she went, like a child cheating in a game of hide-and-go-seek, until finally they followed.

They joined Tobias, Henry, and Uncle Jake, and then Granny shut and locked the door. Daphne set the stapler down on a bookshelf.

"What's going on?" Sabrina asked, studiously avoiding her sister's gaze.

With a grim look on her face, Granny unlocked a large trunk that Sabrina had never seen before and gestured them forward. Daphne leaned in and then leapt backwards, wrinkling her nose. Sabrina looked too and raised an eyebrow at the black body bag inside.

"What is that?" Uncle Jake asked. "Or should I say, who? Or do I even want to know?"

Granny seemed to steel herself. "It's Ariel."

A shocked cry went up among everyone except Tobias, who watched Granny Relda unblinkingly.

"Granny, oh my god!" Sabrina said, all the hairs on the back of her neck rising. Repulsed, she took a few rapid steps back and bumped into Puck, who jumped out of her way like she was carrying some contagious disease. "Has he been in the house this whole time?"

"Yes," Granny Relda replied, and then pressed her lips together as if she didn't intend to elaborate on the matter. Under the glares of her family she relented and continued, "One of the medics prepared his body for burial while you all were unconscious, and now we're going to go bury him."

Sabrina threw her hands up in the air, forcing her breakfast to stay down. "After what he did, we're going to go out of our way to give him a _funeral_?"

"Mom, what on earth were you thinking? She almost killed your grandkids," Henry snapped as Daphne buried her face in his sweater. Uncle Jake and Puck shared looks of distaste. Tobias watched Granny Relda as if she was a mildly interesting television special about butterflies.

Granny Relda managed to give them all stern looks at the same time. "I was thinking that Ariel was once a good man. Who's the one person he would do anything for?"

They all glowered at her.

"His wife," Daphne said finally, after a long, tense moment of no one saying anything.

"That's right. I found where she's buried. We're going to bury him with her. I think that the man Ariel once was would have wanted that," Granny Relda responded, her voice softening. "To be rejoined with the woman he loves—perhaps that will truly bring him some peace."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. A cold-hearted villain like Ariel didn't deserve peace, regardless of who he'd used to be. Only Granny Relda—or maybe also Daphne—would actively search for a way to help a man like him.

"He was once a man who was good and kind, who went out of his way to keep people from getting hurt. We are doing this for that man," Granny reminded them all, reading the looks on their faces with ease. "So let's go."

She moved across the room and moved a teetering stack of books off of another trunk. This one Sabrina recognized as one that would take them to any destination.

"I want to go to St. Patrick's By-the-Sea," Granny said, and then unlocked it. "Henry, Jacob, get Ariel, would you?"

With much grumbling, the brothers did as they were told, each holding the bag an arm's length away from their body. They followed Granny down the steps into the trunk, with Daphne, Puck, and Sabrina bringing up the rear. After a long journey down the stairs, Granny Relda threw open a door and led them outside.

A warm breeze whipped their skin, carrying the tang of salt. Soft grass lay underfoot, and a white house rose above them. Behind the house was a cliff that dropped sharply into the ocean. Blue sky and dark sea glittered in the bright sunlight. On the other side of the house, backed by a forest of twiggy trees, was a graveyard.

"Where are we?" Sabrina asked, awed in spite of the situation.

"Greece," Granny replied in a breath, and when she turned Sabrina could see the age and grief that lined her face.

With that, the feeling among their small group turned from hostile to somber, and the family followed silently as Tobias took over, leading them behind the house and through a dilapidated white gate, into the graveyard, where nature ran wild. The grass was overgrown, moss climbed on the old gray tombstones, and weedy vines sprouted in clumps. From the weathered state of the fence and the gravestones, Sabrina could tell that no one had been buried here for a long time. A heavy sort of silence hung in the air, and the hairs rose on the back of Sabrina's neck again as if there was someone watching them.

She realized she was holding her breath and let it out. Granny wove through the stones with the practice of someone who had been here before, stopping by one of the oldest, smallest grave markers at the back of the plot of land, where the trees stooped over the fence. Kneeling, Sabrina brushed away a vine that had crept over the name.

 _Victoria Fairchild_

Daphne let out a shuddering gasp and Sabrina was on her feet, squeezing her sister's hand.

"What's wrong?" she whispered, as Daphne brushed away a tear.

"Can't you just picture him standing here?" Daphne replied in a whisper. "As a normal person, with no idea of what he would become? Can't you imagine what could have been avoided if he'd never met her?"

Sabrina frowned, biting her tongue to stop herself from replying with something sarcastic.

Puck raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I don't know, Marshmallow, I think he was always crazy. And just buried it."

It was Tobias who silenced Puck with a look. "You may have walked the earth for longer than any of us, boy, but that doesn't mean you understand what it's like to lose people you love. Most people can handle it. But she was the only person he'd _ever_ loved. He made sacrifices for her that you can't imagine. And then he lost her anyways, and he was left alone."

Tobias' gaze bored into Puck. With a frown, Puck shut his mouth and looked away from Tobias, the tips of his ears turning red. Sabrina watched Tobias until he turned and met her eyes, his expression halfway between a glare and a frown, as if he knew a secret she didn't. Then she glanced at Puck. _A normal person, with no idea of what he would become. All he had ever known._

She thought about how solemn he'd looked when he'd told her that he would stay in New York. On the roof, he'd been ready to die for her at Moth's hand. When they were younger, he'd declared himself her bodyguard. What other harm would he put himself in for her? The urge to throw up returned with a vengeance. She became aware that now Daphne was watching her with her arms crossed. Suddenly the way Puck had reacted to Tobias' words and the way she'd looked at him felt very private, and she wished that Tobias and Daphne weren't paying so much attention.

Luckily, her father and Uncle Jake had missed the exchange. They were using wands to carve a grave out of the earth next to Victoria Fairchild's. Sabrina felt the need to keep looking at the body bag, as if Ariel was waiting for the right moment to claw his way out. Never, as long as she lived, would she forgive him. Nor would she be able to see him in the forgiving light that Granny did. She wanted him gone from her life forever. Her skin crawling, she wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed her elbows.

The men lowered the body bag in and set to work filling in the hole. Sabrina was glad no one suggested they remove Ariel or open the bag.

Finally, below Victoria's name, Uncle Jake carved into the weathered stone with his wand.

 _Ariel Fairchild._

He stepped back and let out of a shaky breath. "I don't know his last name, but I think that's fine."

Granny nodded. "Would anyone like to say anything?"

Everyone shook their heads, or wrinkled their noses, except Tobias.

"You let your desire and desperation turn you into a monster," he said quietly. "You didn't know that there was more to life until it was too late."

Sabrina noticed with a jolt that, although he was speaking about Ariel, his eyes were fixed on Puck again. She followed his gaze. Puck's eyes darted to hers and away, his expression unreadable. An uneasy feeling settled in Sabrina's stomach. What was Tobias' problem?

Tobias cleared his throat and continued in a rumbling bass. Sabrina could tell he was quoting something, but didn't know what it was.

" _These violent delights have violent ends_

 _And in their triumph die, like fire and powder_

 _Which, as they kiss, consume…._

 _Under love's heavy burden do I sink._ "

He stepped back, clasping his hands in front of him. Granny Relda patted him on the shoulder and took his place by the grave.

"I hope you find her," she said softly. And then her voice hardened. "And I hope she forgives you."

With a nod, she turned and scanned her family. When no one else offered to speak, she led the silent procession out of the graveyard. As they left, Sabrina found herself glancing back at the tombstone with the two names carved with difficulty into the rock. Deep sadness was weighing on her chest, not for Ariel, but for some reason she couldn't quite figure out.

"A Romeo and Juliet quote? Really?" Uncle Jake said to Tobias, breaking the silence as they passed through the gate.

Tobias gave a half-hearted shrug. "It was what came to mind."

"Fitting to use Shakespeare's words to send off a man that Shakespeare wrote about," Henry said. Sabrina was surprising by his willingness to comment and by the way Puck remained silent.

"At least he's gone now," Sabrina sighed as they reached the door that would lead them home.

"Hopefully," Daphne added, too quietly for anyone but Sabrina to hear. She drew back in alarm as Henry opened the door and stepped inside.

"What do you mean?" Sabrina whispered.

Daphne turned to look behind them, and so did Sabrina. They gazed out at the rolling expanse of soft grass and the blue sky, listening to the faint crash of waves far below.

"Hopefully he's really gone," Daphne finished, making Sabrina feel cold all over. She followed her sister's gaze and together they watched the graveyard for signs of movement until Granny Relda called them. Aside from the trees swaying in the ocean breeze, St. Patrick's-by-the-Sea was as still as if it was aware of the monster that had been left behind, and was trying to hide.

 **A/N: Hi everyone! I've been seeing the reviews coming in, asking me to update this, over the past week or so and I'm sorry for not doing it sooner. I reread everything I had past chapter 12 a while ago and decided I didn't like it, so I scrapped and rewrote this chapter, chapter 14, and the first part of the Epilogue all at once (ironically, the second part of the epilogue has been written since November). I thought I'd get it done faster but then I injured my knee (I'm fine now) and got promoted at work, which doubled my hours and meant that I am suddenly managing 12 people, so that's why it took me forever. I know that everyone's busy so it shouldn't matter why I was, but since I said I thought these would be posted sooner I just wanted to say why.**

 **I was waiting until the whole story was done again to post this chapter because really, this chapter and the last chapter could have been one mega-chapter, and I kept moving scenes between the two. The upside to me doing this all at the same time and making you all wait is that I'll be posting chapter 14 and the Epilogue in a day or two! And that's a definite promise this time because I leave next week on a study abroad trip—no wifi there—for a month and this is something that I decided I have to get done before that. I feel like I have a lot to say in A/N's to you all but I'll save that for the next chapter or the epilogue.**

 **Your reviews warm my heart and I will miss them after this story is over! Thanks for all of the support!**

 **Guest reviews from you lovely people (there were a lot this time so apologizing in advance if I missed anyone, thank you for all the reviews!):**

 **Octavia: Thank you so much! The way you worded your review cracked me up. Very accurate!**

 **Guest (5/26/17): I'm glad you liked the fight scene! I'm honored that it sounded like something in the books, I was hoping it would fit okay!**

 **Lilly: I love reading your reviews! Thank you so much!**

 **SJ: Thank you! I'm glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who disliked sophomore year and I hope the rest of your years were better too! I actually have the funniest story for you. Last year the bookstore at my college was closing and they had this crazy sale so I bought a bunch of random books for about $2 and forgot about them. Was cleaning my bookshelf a few weeks ago and you'll never guess what I found. Undertow! Apparently I own it! It's literally an advance copy they weren't supposed to sell, lol. But so I read it. I agree with you, it was good but not as good as the Sisters Grimm. Also I didn't read the back so it took me a while to figure out what was going on.**

 **Guest(6/4/17): Your review completely made my day! It was so nice and I'm so honored that you and your friends read my updates together! Thanks so much for telling me! As to the Puck POV chapter, most of the Epilogue is actually Puck's POV. One way I wanted to challenge myself when writing this was to keep the regular chapters between the girls but I agree, we do need to hear from Puck. Hopefully that will satisfy your curiosity!**

 **Guest(6/6/17): Thanks for reviewing! I hope you like this chapter!**

 **Guest(6/26/17): Thank you so much! I hope you like this update!**

 **Guest(7/4/17): That's why I came to Fanfiction too! Welcome!**

 **Guest(7/11/17): Sorry for the wait! The last 2 chapters will be up within the week**

 **Guest(7/12/17): I'm so glad you like it! Sorry for the wait, it means a lot that you check it so often!**

 **Ginny: Finally updated! I'm glad you like my story and it means a lot that you check it everyday!**


	14. Youth

Caught between guilt at the idea of Puck coming back to the city and a nagging fear of nightmares, Sabrina couldn't sleep. Hours into the night she'd managed to drift off, just to frighten herself awake around dawn. Then her brain had kicked into overdrive, and she'd struggled to get her mind to stop going a mile a minute. It didn't help that she was currently sharing a bed with Basil—after she'd been declared healed, the family had rearranged themselves around the house in an attempt to get everyone in a bed. Daphne and Red were in Granny's room with her, Veronica and Henry had been given Red's room, and Uncle Jake was somewhere in Puck's woods.

Basil slept facedown with his arms and legs splayed, like he was skydiving, which made it difficult for Sabrina to get comfortable in the first place. But she could have had all the room in the world, and it wouldn't have made a difference as to what was going on inside her head. In her dream, Puck had returned and was ruling Faerie. At first, everything had been fine, but as the dream had gone on, he'd become miserable and angry, until he'd taken off a mask and she'd discovered he had been Ariel all along. It was the kind of dream that was so vivid that she'd fruitlessly wished she was dreaming while she was having it.

At first she'd written it off as one of her standard nightmares, an irrational byproduct of her insane life. But then she'd pictured Tobias, watching Puck in the graveyard, and then she saw Ariel the way he had been on the rooftop—alive and glaring and full of hate.

Maybe because it was late and the rational part of her brain was shut off, but Sabrina's mind was putting together pieces. Pieces to a puzzle she wasn't sure she wanted to see finished.

Puck would never be like Ariel, Sabrina was sure. But she also knew that coming back to New York right now wouldn't make him happy. Being King was a big job, and one that went on forever, as far as Sabrina knew. It was hard for her to picture forever, having only been around for eighteen years, but after going to Faerie it was clear regardless why he'd been putting off coming home. With a sigh, Sabrina flipped her pillow over to the cold side, moved Basil's arm, and flopped down. It seemed like a Catch-22. He couldn't come home without being forced to be king. She couldn't have him if he didn't come home. It would be too hard to be together otherwise, what with the casual way he and Jake jumped around the planet.

Maybe he had changed his mind and he really did want to be King. _That's possible,_ said the desperate part of her who wanted more than anything for him to stay.

Or maybe he would come back and discover that being tethered to a kingdom made him miserable. _More likely,_ replied the nasty voice in the back of her mind that was never helpful.

Plus, Mustardseed had skipped several years of his life to age quickly. Would Titania make Puck do that when he came home? The idea of Puck being a different age than her made her feel queasy.

Doubt weaseled into Sabrina's brain. There was no way that he had thought this through.

Should she say something? She didn't want him to leave! But she also really didn't want to be the reason he returned to rule a kingdom before he was ready.

At least she had the day to figure it out. Cursing under her breath, Sabrina gave up on sleep for the time being, rolled out of bed, and padded to the bathroom. Easing the door closed behind her, she moved to stand at the sink. She stared at herself in the mirror for a while, searching for evidence of the battles she'd fought. Her eyes looked huge and dark, her skin as thin and unscarred as blank paper. Uncle Jake's creams and the Faerie medics had done a stellar job on her. Feeling oddly like she was floating outside her body, she traced the plane of her cheekbone with her finger, half wishing for some sign of her old injuries so that the past week felt less surreal.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, Sabrina opened the door and walked right into Daphne. Both sisters let out identical, muffled squeaks of alarm and backed up.

Daphne rubbed her eyes. "What are you doing up?"

"Uh, what do you think?" Sabrina snapped, stepping aside to let her by. But Daphne didn't move, and the bleariness in her eyes was quickly being replaced by coherence. She scrunched her eyebrows.

"What's wrong, 'Brina," Daphne asked. And her voice was not the bubbly voice that Sabrina was accustomed to, but soft and calculated, as if she already knew.

Sabrina crossed her arms and straightened, trying to warn Daphne to drop it. "Nothing."

"What…" Daphne began, and then seemed to steel herself. "What's going on with you and Puck?"

"Um," Sabrina said, willing her brain to work. If they hadn't been standing in the bathroom door at seven in the morning, if she hadn't been as tired, or if she hadn't been so worried about what to do about Puck, she would have been able to think of something clever to say. Instead she squeezed her eyes shut for a long moment as if that could make her sister go away.

"Moth told me you were together. I didn't believe it, obviously, but then I saw him kiss you on Christmas, during the snowball fight," Daphne supplied helpfully.

Sabrina pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing she could stop the heat from rushing to her cheeks, and let out a breath. _"Would you keep your voice down."_

"So it is true!"

" _Daphne!"_

"Sorry," she whispered, but her eyes were shining. "Does this mean you're together?"

"What? No," Sabrina hissed, crossing her arms and squeezing her elbows hard.

Pressing her lips together, Daphne replied, "I guess that makes sense, since they're leaving again in a few hours."

It took Sabrina a minute to process Daphne's words. "Wait, they're leaving today?"

"You didn't know?" Daphne's eyes widened. "I heard Uncle Jake telling Granny before I went to bed. Something about the pyramids in Egypt and warlocks?"

All of the air went out of Sabrina's lungs. There was a funny taste in her mouth. "I knew that," Sabrina whispered. "But he said tomorrow."

"What does that mean for you?" Daphne asked in a low voice, undaunted by the way Sabrina was scowling at a warped spot in the door frame about six inches above her head.

"Nothing," Sabrina replied, suddenly sick with nerves. "I'm going to back bed. Goodnight, Daph."

"Sabrina," her sister replied, grabbing her arm as Sabrina went to leave. "It's going to be okay. You'll figure it out."

Her eyes were wide and earnest. Sabrina forced herself to breathe. "Thanks, Daph."

And she pushed off the wall and strode toward her room, her mind racing. Distantly, she heard the door close behind her sister, and before her brain could catch up with her feet she had redirected herself toward Puck's room.

She knew she should probably stop and collect her thoughts, but in this moment Sabrina was sure that nothing had ever been as urgent as getting to him. She barged into Puck's room without knocking and looked around. There was the pit in the ground where the pond had been, there was the forest, clean and bright in the raw light of morning, and there was Puck, emerging from a stand of trees, carrying a bundle of clothes.

"Hi," he said, confusion written across his features. He checked his ugly watch. "What's going on?"

Sabrina took a deep breath and replied, "Is Uncle Jake here?"

Puck shook his head.

"I just came to ask if you still plan on staying in New York," Sabrina explained, the words rolling around in her mouth like marbles. "Daphne told me your departure time got moved up a day."

The waterfall roared in the distance. Puck's eyes were wide. "I was planning on staying, but I haven't told Jake yet. Why?"

"I was thinking. Have you thought about what you're doing? Are you ready to _really_ come back and be King?" she asked, hearing her voice as if it was coming from somewhere very far away. It was easier to distance herself from what she was saying, to not think about the meaning behind her words.

Puck paused and thought. Sabrina waited on tenterhooks for him to respond. When he spoke, doubt flowered in his tone. "I could _be_ ready."

Now Sabrina was fighting to keep a tremor out of her voice. "Let's say nothing happened between us on this trip, Puck, and your mother confronted you about staying. What would you say?"

The waterfall roared louder, or perhaps that was her own blood in her ears.

Puck blinked, and then replied defensively, "I don't know. I hadn't thought about it."

"You'd say no, wouldn't you?"

And something about the urgency in her tone made him relent.

"I'd say no."

Sabrina let out all of the air that she'd been holding in. She felt like a balloon that had been popped.

"But that's not the situation," Puck protested, not getting it. "So what does it matter?"

"It matters," she replied, knotting her fingers together. Her heart was hammering so hard that she felt like she was about to vomit, which made it hard to speak. "I just—Puck, I think you need to go to Egypt."

Puck jerked back like she'd slapped him. "Why?"

She saw the hurt and indignation and reached out, grabbing his hand. "It's not like that. Of _course_ I want you to come back to New York. But you shouldn't."

" _Why?_ "

 _Because I'm afraid I'll do to you what Victoria Fairchild somehow did to Ariel. Or you'll do it to me._ She tried to form the words, but she couldn't say it. Not out loud.

She didn't have to. He read it, she watched him read it. And he pulled his hand back, stung, and strode off into the copse of trees from which he'd emerged.

"Puck!" Sabrina cried, and ran after him. The part of her brain that was panicking the most realized suddenly that there were no chimps around.

He whirled, eyes blazing. "I'm not Ariel!"

"I never said you were! Would you just let me explain!"

They'd reached the trampoline. Puck leaned against it and crossed his arms, his face twisted in a scowl.

"Ariel wasted his last years with Victoria traveling. He tried so hard to save her that he lost sight of what he wanted and what he was doing. We're only eighteen, and I don't want us to lose sight of what we want. You want to travel, and I have to finish school. You might want to come back to Faerie in this moment, but how are you going to feel in a few weeks? Happy? Or miserable, in meetings all day? This isn't the Dark Ages, Puck, no one would put someone our age in a position of power like that," she said, the words tumbling out of her mouth like they'd been pushed. She knew there was no reason for her to be yelling, and yet she couldn't seem to lower her voice.

Puck's frown deepened and he looked like he was about to argue with her, so Sabrina continued with the thing that had been making her feel the most awful.

"And I couldn't do that to you. Puck, I took away your childhood. I'm not taking away the rest of your youth as well."

Silence fell between them, not the comfortable silence that Sabrina had grown accustomed to, but a kind that was prickly and tense.

"You didn't take away my childhood," Puck replied after a long minute of processing Sabrina's words. He set the clothes down on the trampoline behind him.

"In a way, I did," Sabrina said, feeling a lump form in her throat. "You remember the Pegasi? Don't you remember how angry you were back then?"

"I'm not angry about that anymore," Puck replied, still not getting it.

"But you were. And I can't do that to you again. I know you don't want to grow up yet but if you come home now, Titania will make you. Just like Mustardseed."

Puck looked past her, clearly seeing something that wasn't there, the corners of his mouth tilted down.

"No one would put someone our age in charge?" he asked distantly.

Sabrina shook her head violently. "Most people our age are in school for at least four more years. Or they're working entry level jobs. Our brains don't even finish developing until we're twenty-five."

Once the scientific fact came out of her mouth, she realized she was rambling and pressed her lips together.

There was something like relief in Puck's face. As soon as Sabrina noticed it, her heart sank. She was the one pushing for this, but that didn't mean it made her happy.

His eyes slid to hers, questioning.

"I really, really want you to come back," Sabrina said softly, not trusting herself to speak louder. "But it's not the right time and I don't want to be the reason you come home before you're ready. And what's a few years in exchange for eternity?"

Some of the conflict melted off of his face, and his eyes sharpened. "Eternity?"

Sabrina cringed. She hadn't meant it like that. And she didn't want to freak him out. But as she scrambled for the words to clarify what she meant, he reached out and pulled her into him.

This time she knew why he was kissing her so desperately, why he crushed her against him like he was afraid she'd slip away anyways.

He was going to leave. Going to go to Egypt. For the first time since she'd heard, Sabrina felt hot tears prick her eyes. She'd been concentrating so hard on how to explain her thoughts that she hadn't let herself feel anything. She was glad that the way he was leaning against the trampoline meant he was supporting most of her body weight, because she wasn't sure her legs would work if she needed them to.

And then he was breaking away, words tumbling out in a rushed, hoarse whisper. "So I guess this is it."

They were still pressed together and Sabrina thought that if she never pulled away, then maybe she'd never have to let him go. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt her heart shatter into a million pieces, just like she'd told herself it wouldn't. "I guess so."

Mouth slightly open, he pulled his head back and looked at her, her uncertainty mirrored in his eyes.

Far away, the door opened. The pieces of Sabrina's heart sank.

"Puck!" Uncle Jake hollered, sending a flock of birds twittering out of a tree. Frozen, Puck and Sabrina stared at each other, and then, as Uncle Jake tromped towards them, pulled apart.

He emerged from the trees dressed in his long overcoat and wearing a smile brighter than the sun itself. When he saw Sabrina, he did a double take.

"Good morning, 'Brina! Why are you up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep. Came to say goodbye," Sabrina replied faster than she should have. She tried to force herself to sound nonchalant instead of miserable. It didn't really work.

Luckily, Uncle Jake was too caught up in his own thoughts and plans to notice. He slid the bottomless knapsack off his back. "Well, I'm glad you're here, because I wanted to give you this."

Too upset to ask why, Sabrina stuck out her hand and accepted it. Completely oblivious to the tension between Puck and Sabrina, Uncle Jake continued, "Kladenets is in there. There's a higher chance of it getting stolen if we take it to Egypt, so I'm deputizing you and Daphne. Find a safe place for it."

"We will," Sabrina said, her mouth dry. Just to have something to do, she slid it onto her back and then stood there, staring at her uncle, wishing he would go away. It was hard to believe that he was here for her last few moments with Puck.

"You packed?" Uncle Jake asked Puck. He nodded. "Let's go say goodbye to everyone."

Sabrina barely registered the tight hug he gave her, and then the next few minutes seemed to blur together as Puck gave her a brief, awkward hug in front of her uncle, hanging on just a moment longer than normal, and then they left the room so that the pair could say goodbye to everyone else.

It was too painful for her to wait around in the house. Sabrina slipped out the back door and jogged toward the woods. Once she was under relative cover of the naked branches, Sabrina let the tears that had been making her throat ache run silently down her cheeks. She tried to remind herself that in a few days she would feel relief that she'd done the right thing, even though right now she wanted to go inside and take it back.

"This sucks," Sabrina said out loud, just to hear her own voice.

At least the guilt was gone. And it wouldn't be forever. She repeated that to herself as she walked, wandering numbly through the trees with no real goal in mind other than to get away, wiping her nose on her sleeve. She wished she had a tissue. Her heartbeat slowed down to normal as she walked.

"Sabrina," said a familiar voice that Sabrina couldn't place.

Sabrina bit down on her lip to stop a scream from escaping and whirled around, raising her fists in preparation.

The Valkyrie was standing behind her, a small smile on her face. There was a soft silver glow that emanated from her, so dim that Sabrina hadn't noticed it before. It reflected off the snow at her feet, making it gleam.

Sabrina felt the tension go out of her back. She relaxed her fists, but remained on alert. This mysterious girl had helped her multiple times, but Sabrina didn't understand why.

"Hi, Maria," she replied, running the back of her hand across her eyes hastily. "I'm glad you're here, I never got a chance to thank you for helping me so many times."

Maria took a step forward, causing the shadows around them to shift slightly. "No need to thank me. We do these things voluntarily. But, I have to admit that I was interested in something other than you on your quest. I do have a favor to ask of you."

Sabrina forgot how to breathe. Everafter favors were volatile, usually two-sided, and Maria's expression was unreadable. But how could she say no, after Maria had basically saved her life?

"What is it?"

"The sword, Kladenets. It belongs in the Hall of Valkyrie. I'm asking for it back."

The Valkyrie's eyes drifted to Sabrina's shoulder and the pack she wore. In her hurry to get away, Sabrina had forgotten she was carrying it.

"Oh," Sabrina said, although the sound was less than relaxed. Based on the intensity of Maria's gaze, Sabrina figured there was no use in pretending she didn't have it. "Um, how did you know where it was?"

"As Valkyries, we can always sense our creations. The sword of Kladenets was stolen from the Hall of Valkyrie hundreds of years ago, during a great war, and hidden in the Lost Cave. We are not allowed to walk the earth for long periods at a time, making it impossible for us to open the cave, and we have always longed for its return."

She pressed her lips together and forced a smile. Sabrina wondered if this was the first time Maria had attempted to smile, and if she knew that it made her look like she was about to lunge forward in attack.

"So that's why you helped me," Sabrina said, sinking into misery again. "You were using me to get your weapon back."

The Valkyrie shrugged one shoulder. "Yes and no. I meant what I said in the bar, Sabrina Grimm. You fight well and deserve to be helped. You're more selfless than most Everafters I've known. None of them would have had the courage to do what you just did, to let go of the fairy boy."

Sabrina's stomach clenched. Desperate to ask someone this question, she blurted out, "Do you think I did the right thing?"

A frigid wind swept through the woods, knocking a dusting of snow down on them. Sabrina shook off the powder.

"My people are a people of war, not peace or love. Humans and Faeries are an odd mixture of both. I do not know much of love, but I suppose time will tell," Maria said, her olive-green eyes unreadable. She ignored the snow that blended in with her hair. "It was a warrior's choice."

Without taking her eyes off Maria, Sabrina slid the knapsack off her back. It occurred to her that maybe Kladenets had been taken from the Valkyries for a reason, but she reached into the bag and groped around anyway.

Six years ago, Sabrina would not have given Maria the benefit of the doubt. She would have run off with the sword and hid it in a place that only she could find it. But that Sabrina was long gone. Now, she found the sword and pulled it out. Better to Maria than to anyone she knew, anyways. If it turned out the Valkyries were misusing it, Sabrina figured that she and her family could just steal it back.

"Will I ever see you again?" she asked, holding the sword out to Maria.

"I'll be around. I'll know if you need me," Maria replied. She took Kladenets by the hilt and held it with a tenderness that was at odds with both its brutal actions and her heritage. A radiant smile spread across her face, lighting up her features. The odd glow that surrounded her brightened.

"Wait!" Sabrina said, sensing she was about to leave. The glow dimmed slightly, which Sabrina took as a sign to speak. "What was happening to me when I was asleep? Why couldn't I wake up without you?"

Maria's eyes flashed. "Sycorax may have thrown the bones to hurt Puck, but Moth and Ariel didn't forget about you. You had some of Sycorax's poison in you as well as Puck did, although not enough for the Faerie medics to take notice of it. That's why you weren't waking, even though your sleep was so disrupted. The poison is gone now, although I don't know if your nightmares will ever fade."

"They've been bad for years," Sabrina said, dread filling her stomach at the idea of an eternity of nightmares.

The Valkyrie nodded sympathetically. "I know."

"Thank you for waking me up," Sabrina said, and meant it with every fiber of her being.

"Thank you, Sabrina," she said, and with a flash of light, left Sabrina to blink the spots out of her eyes alone.

A little dizzy and overwhelmed from the morning's events, Sabrina sat down hard on a rock. It wasn't even breakfast time, and yet she'd managed to break her own heart, break someone else's, converse with a Valkyrie, and find a good resting place for Kladenets.

Sabrina dropped her head into her hands. She felt like a different person than she had been a week and a half ago. She'd caged a Yeti, survived the Nightingale's whistle, been appointed fake Queen of Faerie, and battled ancient fairies on the roof of their kingdom, prepared to die as one of them. It would be strange to return to the human world and carry on at school, with a new knowledge of the world of Everafter, and without Puck.

At least Moth was in prison. Sabrina hoped against hope that she'd made the right call in sparing her life. She wished that she'd never had to watch her kill Ariel, wished she'd never see the grotesque _X_ on Puck's chest.

It had been a whirlwind of adventure and Sabrina was exhausted. She knew that although everything was calming down for the time being, the rooftop wouldn't be her last battle ground, and Kladenets wouldn't be the last magical object she fought for. This was her life now, whether she liked it or not, and as far as she was concerned, it wasn't ending anytime soon.

Sabrina listened to the trees breathe in the wind and tried to feel prepared to face whatever eternity threw at her. Surely it couldn't feel worse than today did.

When the sun had risen much higher in the sky, Sabrina found the energy to get to her feet and walk home. She went straight to her room, where she sat down in front of her journal and tore out the pages she'd written the day before.

And when she started at the beginning again and wrote down her latest adventure, she didn't leave a single detail out.

 **A/N: Last chapter! Since this is it (aside from the Epilogue), please leave a review and let me know what you thought of the ending/the story in general if you have the time!**

 **Guest reviews:**

 **Guest (7/21/17): Thank you! I'm glad you liked it and I'm glad the emotion came across!**

 **Lilly: Thank you so much, that really means a lot! I hope you like this last chapter!**


	15. Epilogue

_Ten years later…_

The rain drifted down in a fine mist, coating Sabrina's long overcoat and the strands of hair that had escaped her hood in miniscule drops. She walked briskly, dodging puddles in her heels and keeping a protective arm over her briefcase. As always when she walked around in the city alone after dark, every nerve in her body was on edge. Not so much in a fear of the other humans—she had yet to meet a mortal man who could take her down—but because she knew, better than anyone, of the dirtier Everafters that came out at sundown. But for now, there was no one else in sight on the narrow side street that she took to shave a few minutes off her commute.

Inside her pocket, she fiddled with the ring that belonged on her fourth finger. It had been in her pocket all day. She'd worn it when she'd left their apartment this morning, and then had taken it off on the walk to work, the way she had for the past few weeks since he'd given it to her. This block was usually where she remembered to put it back on.

Sabrina wasn't sure what her problem was. She couldn't explain her reluctance to wear the ring. It was a reluctance that had taken form the moment he'd proposed, the moment she'd panicked and said yes.

He didn't even know the truth about her. She'd stopped growing three years ago.

With some effort, Sabrina refocused her mind onto what she should be thinking about—her current case. She ran her thumb over the face of the diamond and couldn't seem to remember what the case was about.

There was a soft disturbance of air—a sound that a normal person wouldn't have picked up on, but one that Sabrina had been used to listening for throughout her childhood. She came to an abrupt halt on the sidewalk, and although she didn't know she still knew his scent, she could suddenly smell him. He hit the ground on silent cat feet and she started walking again, afraid he might be an illusion.

The last time she'd seen him was ten years ago.

"You really shouldn't be flying in the middle of the city, you know," she said under her breath, trying very hard to act nonchalant, as if her heart wasn't pounding in her ears because of his sudden appearance.

He kept pace with her as they rounded a corner and melted into the bustling city again. "I didn't want to wait to see you."

His voice had grown deeper and richer and it made Sabrina's blood warm. She scowled to hide the feeling. Maybe it was the fact that she'd had a long day, maybe it was the weight of the ring in her pocket, but she didn't have the nerve to answer him. She sized him out of the corner of her eye. He looked twenty-five, like she did. Like it had burned her, she released the ring and pulled her hand out of her pocket.

"Sabrina," he said, the smallest hint of a question coloring her name.

Sabrina realized she had been staring at him and blinked. She couldn't believe that after years without any sort of communication, he'd thought he could just fall out of the sky and start a conversation. She couldn't believe that she didn't feel more angry at his sudden appearance.

"Hey, Puck. What's going on?"

With a sigh, Puck walked straight through a puddle like the water didn't bother him. "I'm going to Faerie tonight. For good."

This was shocking enough to stop her in her tracks. Sabrina swiveled to face him and found it suddenly difficult to swallow. He'd gained an inch or two of height and his shoulders had broadened. A faint sweep of stubble was just visible on his jaw in the low light, just long enough to be deliberate. He wore his hair a little longer than he'd used to. It covered the tips of his ears. Sabrina felt the urge to touch his hair where it curled at the nape of his neck.

It seemed like adulthood suited him. She wouldn't have believed how adult he'd become, if not for the stories that Uncle Jake had told Daphne.

"Really? Why?" Sabrina asked, wondering how it was possible for her heart to be beating so hard.

"I just felt like it was time," he replied, and she could tell he was nervous too by the intensity of the ditty his fingers were tapping out against his leg. "I've been gone long enough. Seen the world. I think that Faerie is my next great adventure."

He gestured vaguely in the direction of Central Park.

Sabrina nodded. After he'd left, they'd kept in touch for a while. And then, she wasn't sure what happened. Thinking back, she felt like maybe he had gone somewhere with no cell signal for a long time, or perhaps it had been when she'd studied abroad in Italy, but at some point they'd stopped talking.

But Sabrina _did_ talk to Daphne. She and Uncle Jake had kept up with each other, calling weekly. Sabrina had heard secondhand about the duo's wild adventures, the wildest somehow occurring in the bars and clubs of cities around the globe. According to Daphne, there had been a _lot_ of girls involved.

"I had to see you before I go home," he added, his voice both clear and hesitant at the same time. Sabrina noticed that she had to tilt her chin a bit farther up than she used to to make eye contact with him. They moved closer to the deli they were standing in front of to avoid a rush of people that had appeared from a nearby subway station.

"How did you find me?" Sabrina asked, hardly noticing the others who brushed past her.

"Daphne," Puck said simply.

Of course.

The mental image of Puck with some random girl had left Sabrina more surprised than upset at first. She'd realized that the idea of Puck dating other people had never occurred to her, as if perhaps the fact that he'd grown up for her made him hers.

It wasn't like she had a right to be mad. She'd been dating other people too. And yet hearing about Puck doing the same thing had made her feel like she was going through some sort of breakup. It had taken her a while to move past it.

"I missed you," Puck said, and every feeling she'd been suppressing came rushing back like his voice had charmed the floodgates open.

Overwhelmed by it all, Sabrina started walking again.

"I missed you, too," she said, trying to sound nonchalant.

It was after that that she'd met Bradley. Bradley was nice. They had fun together. At twenty five she'd stopped aging, graduated law school, passed the bar, gotten a job, and agreed to go out with him. And things had been going well. Until Bradley had proposed, and she'd panicked, and said yes, and found herself at a crossroads. It was then she realized that she'd been coasting, allowing the fact that she'd stopped aging to slow down other aspects of her life as well. His proposal was what had forced her out of her rut. She knew that she needed to decide what to do, either tell him the truth or leave. Several times, she'd planned on coming out Everafter-style to him, but never once found the courage to go through with it. So with no real, concrete reason to end it, she'd remained in a state of constant, quiet panic as their engagement stretched out. After all, she liked him, just not enough to explain that she was an immortal fairy detective who was sort of waiting for a fairy guy who was anywhere on the planet, but also sort of starting to wonder if she'd been wrong about him all along.

Deep down, she knew she shouldn't marry Bradley. But she had no idea how to go about breaking it off, and so she kept putting it off, finding reasons to stay.

 _And now Puck was back._ And Sabrina's heart rate had yet to slow down. She'd spent years convincing herself that her feelings for him were gone, and yet she'd never felt this flustered around Bradley, her skin hot and sticky despite the cold drizzle.

"I can't believe you're back, Gasbag," Sabrina said honestly, their shoulders bumping together as they crossed a street. She hadn't realized she'd closed the distance between them. Out of the corner of her eye she his shoulders relax and felt her stomach twist. She shouldn't be feeling this way. After all, she was engaged! It didn't matter that Puck's appearance somehow managed to change everything. Did it?

"I can't believe you're wearing a suit," he joked. "It looks like you've got a lot to fill me in on, Grimm."

Sabrina would have smiled, except they'd reached her building. She stopped, unsure of what to do, caught between the past and the present. Inside, Bradley was probably making dinner, like he usually did when she had to work late. Outside, the wild boy from her past who knew the truth about her wore a grin that was full of unspoken promises.

Sabrina's stomach twisted. "Puck, there's something you should know."

He raised an eyebrow. Sabrina mentally counted to three. It was the right thing to do, whether she liked it or not.

"I'm engaged."

* * *

 _Puck_

Puck sat at the bar at the Golden Egg, staring off into space as he ran a finger around the rim of his glass, listening to the hollow ringing noise it gave off. After the general homecoming excitement that had accompanied his arrival, he'd slipped off to be alone, dodging several young fairy women who'd tried to get his attention. She was _engaged._ How was that even possible? Even after Jake had explained it to him, he didn't completely understand human engagements, but he did know that this meant that Sabrina was planning to marry some…some _human_ named Bradley.

When Puck had started to grow up, he hadn't felt anything. But one day, sometime in the human age of twenty-five, he'd woken up and just known that he had stopped. For a long time he couldn't figure out why he knew or why he had stopped. Out of the blue, he'd remembered what Sabrina had said long ago, about human brains finishing their development around age twenty-five, and had felt a sudden panic. What if his brain wasn't ready yet? What if it was undercooked, like the time he and Jake had been so hungry that they'd roasted squirrels over a fire and eaten them before they were really done? And so he'd tried to restart it, to no avail. He was stuck at twenty-five.

Then finally, he'd admitted to himself what he'd known deep down all along. This was probably Sabrina's doing. _She_ had probably stopped, which had led to him stopping. Which led him to the question of, did Sabrina stop on purpose? If so, how? And more importantly, how in the hell did his body know to stop too?

And _most_ importantly, did she know what she was doing to him?

The whole business had given Puck quite a headache three years ago. Now, his head was starting to pound again. What did it mean that he was still completely under her spell, and she was engaged to someone else?

It shouldn't bother him. Puck tried to calm his racing heart. It wasn't like he, Puck, wanted to marry her. But he also didn't want her to marry this guy.

Puck wished he'd had more information. Unfortunately, moments after Sabrina had dropped the bomb on him, her fiancé himself had opened the door, and Puck had been forced to say goodbye and leave. He hadn't even managed to get a good look at the guy.

Puck was usually so sure of himself. He knew the best weapon to use against every different subspecies of goblin, could recite the seven ways to kill a warlock in great detail, and could brew a mean healing potion. But right now, he had no idea what to do.

Sighing, Puck pulled out his phone and called Daphne. She picked up on the third ring, laughing at something whoever she was with had said.

"Daph, it's me," he said. Daphne had stopped herself at twenty-one and was loving it.

She struggled to rein in her giggles. "Puck! Happy Friday! What's up?"

After a minute of internal grappling, Puck decided to go for the blunt approach. "Sabrina is engaged."

When Daphne spoke again, the laughter had left her voice. "Yes…did you just find out now? I told Uncle Jake the day it happened. Why do you sound so sad? I thought you were over her."

Puck switched his phone to his other ear to accommodate for the way his palm had just gotten sweaty. "I'm not sure why people keep saying that," he replied, noticing the way Momma was looking at him with concern and glancing pointedly away.

"Well, probably because of all those other girls," Daphne pointed out irritatingly. "Wait, who keeps saying that?"

"Jake, Red, the Old Lady, some guy I had a conversation with in a bar last weekend. Not sure about that last one, I don't really remember that night," Puck said, counting on his fingers. "Also my mother. But I think that was just wishful thinking on her part."

Daphne sucked in a breath. "Oh, Puck. I'll talk to her," she promised. "You, you need to talk to her too. Just as friends."

Puck nodded and then remembered she couldn't see him and replied, "Okay. Although I'm not sure she wants to."

"No," Daphne replied thoughtfully. "You are probably the last person she wants to talk to."

Stung, Puck said, "Why's that?"

A long silence followed his question. If not for the chatter in the background on her end, he would've thought she'd hung up on him.

"Because you're the reason she's been struggling with the idea of marrying Bradley, of course," Daphne said as the background noise grew louder. Suddenly she was shouting over it. "Puck, I have to go, I'm sorry! I'll talk to Sabrina!"

But Puck felt like whatever had sucked the life out of him had suddenly returned it. He sat up straight and stopped playing with the glass, hearing a distant ringing in his ears instead. "Wait, Daphne," he said. "What do you mean, I'm the reason? She doesn't want to marry the human?"

But she'd pressed end somewhere in the middle of his sentence and now there was nothing but silence.

"Daphne," Puck barked anyways. "Daphne?"

And then he groaned and dropped his phone onto the counter, raking a hand through his hair. He hadn't expected it to be easy, coming back and finding her, but he also hadn't expected this.

And then, the voice behind him that made every one of his cells start buzzing.

"Puck."

He turned around in his stool and there she was, standing across the room and looking at him like she was wary of coming closer. Earlier, with her hood up and her bulky coat, he hadn't been able to see her properly, and now he found himself unable to look away. She looked different and yet the same as she always had, older and more confident in the way that she stood. There was the fierce look in her blue eyes that he remembered, the one that had captured him in the same way the sea could pull a person away from shore.

She'd cut her hair, he thought. Instead of hanging in loose waves all the way down her back, it was straighter and stopped just below her shoulders.

He had no clue what she was doing here or what this meant, but in the moment all that mattered was that she was here. She'd found him, and engaged or not, he could work with that.

It was impossible to stop staring. She'd always been pretty, but right now he thought he'd never seen anyone more beautiful. Her name came out of his mouth like a breath of fresh air.

"Sabrina."

* * *

 _Two more years later…_

Puck woke up because of the moonlight. He propped himself up on his elbows, the blankets sliding down his torso, disoriented in the bright beams that washed through the window on the wall above them. They'd forgotten to close the blinds, and the moon had just moved into the perfect position to stab him in the eyes with light.

Sabrina was still asleep, one arm tucked under her pillow, the other hand nestled between her cheek and the pillowcase. Her hair spilled over the sleeve of the T-shirt she'd borrowed. The moon had drained it of its golden color, so that her face was framed by strands of liquid silver.

He debated getting up to close the blinds and decided against it, lying down beside her again instead. There was something comforting about watching her sleep, something in the way that the hard mask she always wore smoothed out that made the knots in his stomach unravel.

New knots formed in his stomach every day at Faerie. There was always so much to do and so much to learn about. Puck knew more about economics, Everafter politics, and his staff than he had ever wanted to know. He'd discovered that he actually liked being King, ordering people around and making decisions for his subjects, but he didn't like the stress it came with. He'd taken to spending nights at this apartment, across the city from Faerie, in order to get away from it all.

Sabrina had been staying over more and more often lately, at least twice a week, even though it meant getting up at six in the morning to rush home and don her power suit before heading to the office. Before, Puck hadn't minded being alone. Now, nights without her were beginning to feel lonely, and he would go to sleep feeling like something was off. He usually dreaded having to get up when she was in his bed, but this coming morning was Saturday, which meant she could stay for breakfast.

His gaze was drawn away from her by the mottled shadows on the opposite wall. The way things looked at night always fascinated him, reminded him that there was a significant amount of magic in everyday life, magic that was less obvious during the day. Although all his furniture had been reduced to dark lumps, so black against the silvery walls that even his sharp eyes couldn't make out the lines, his eyes fell to his dresser. The bottom drawer was filling with her things—wasn't there magic in that?—not enough stuff to make it seem like they lived together, just a few outfits that she would throw in his hamper when they were dirty and he would wash and return, a hairbrush, a bottle of vitamins. Whenever she stayed over, she used his toothbrush and shampoo, but recently—he wasn't sure when exactly—she'd left conditioner that smelled like strawberries in his shower. Sabrina hadn't bothered to ask him first. She probably figured he wouldn't care, but he doubted she knew how it would somehow catch his eye when he was showering, make his mind drift to the small black box in the top drawer of his bedside table, hidden in a place he knew she had no reason to look.

Sabrina stirred, wrinkling her nose. Then she sat up with a jolt and a cry, one hand moving toward his arm, the other flying through the air to assault an invisible attacker.

"It's just the light," Puck whispered, catching her fingers. Sabrina froze, fist cocked, and then used it to push her hair off her face. Even poised to kill, or perhaps because of that, she looked like an angel in the light of the moon.

"You never know when you need to scare someone off," she replied, rubbing her eyes, her voice thick with sleep. The nightmares that had plagued her when they were younger had never really gone away, although Sabrina claimed they were less potent when she was with him. Puck could hardly imagine what they were like without him if this was the case. He couldn't count the nights she's screamed until she'd startled him awake and he'd shaken her until he'd managed to free her from the horrors of her own mind.

"Yes, you're absolutely terrifying right now," Puck teased, letting go of her other hand and reaching up to tug a silky wisp of silvery hair. At least the nightmare tonight had been mild.

His mouth went dry in response to the sleepy scowl she gave him.

"Do you want me to get up and close the blinds?"

Sinking back onto the pillows, Sabrina wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled herself to him. "No, the damage is done," she mumbled into his bare chest.

 _You could do it right now,_ he told himself as he slid a hand up her back to hold her, but the idea froze his insides. His heart slammed against his ribs like it was looking for an out.

It wasn't that he wasn't prepared. The ring had been sitting under a book, weighing on Puck's mind, probably collecting dust, for about a month now. He'd tried to plan up a way to do it, but couldn't think of anything that seemed realistic. The idea of proposing made him want to vomit. Why couldn't it be acceptable to just text her the question? Say it at some random meal on a random day? No, proposals were supposed to be mushy. If there was anything Puck wasn't, it was mushy.

He also knew there was a chance that she would say no. Or worse, laugh at him. It really could happen, he figured. The idea of getting down on one knee and reciting something cringey made Puck _himself_ want to laugh. Or die of embarrassment. One time, he'd made the mistake of voicing his worries to Daphne and Mustardseed, who both were unimpressed that this was taking so long.

 _Puck, she loves you, stop acting so stupid,_ Daphne had berated him on several occasions.

But what if she was wrong? Puck didn't know what he would do without Sabrina. In the span of months between her ending things with Bradley and now, she'd become a permanent fixture in his universe, the sun that lit up the day, the stars that he saw at night. Because of her, Puck thought he understood addiction.

Maybe it was better to stay like this than run the risk of rejection.

Puck sighed without meaning to. Sabrina shifted against him, moved upward, and pressed her mouth against his. Wrapping both arms around her, he sank into her embrace, the heat of her mouth and the distracting movement of her hands against his back to driving all fears from his mind.

No one else could do this to him. Puck traced circles on the silky skin of her stomach, breathing in her gasp, and then flipped her onto her back, dipping his head to meet her again. Her hands were in his hair, on his chest, and he was drowning in her touch and the smell of strawberries.

Alone except for the Sabrina and the moon and the distant hum of traffic, Puck felt more alive than he ever had in four thousand years. Who knew that giving up the forest for the city, surrendering childhood for manhood, even _returning to Faerie,_ would be something he didn't think twice about, something that felt so natural?

Oblivious to rings and strawberries and clothes on the floor, the world moved on without them; the mottled shadows whispered on the walls.

Sabrina's eyes reflected the moonlight. "We should go somewhere," she whispered when the moon had completed a bit more of its nightly journey through the sky, sitting up and taking him with her.

Puck blinked, detangling his legs from hers. "What?"

She twisted to look at the clock. "It's five in the morning. We've been awake for a while now, there's no point in going back to sleep."

"Yes, there is," Puck laughed. "It's the weekend, Grimm. That means we don't have to get up and start functioning until noon, if you want."

But Sabrina got to her knees and leaned against the windowsill, craning her head to see the sky. "Lazy! How they let you run a kingdom is beyond me. Come on, we can watch the sun rise. If there's one thing I miss about living in Ferryport Landing, it's being able to see that. Usually I watch the sun rise on the walk home. Less fun."

She threw him a sideways glance at this point, as if to remind him that he was the reason she had to rush home in the dark.

"How many times do I have to tell you to just move in with me?" Puck joked, grimacing at the feeling of butterflies in his stomach, and then, to cover up the flush in his cheeks that could give away the fact that he meant it, continued, "Or we could spend the night at your place!"

Sabrina snorted and sat down. "Good one! No."

Puck cracked a smile, relaxing. She lived with roommates, who were mostly crazy. The brown-haired one, Sarah or something like that, followed them around the apartment as if Sabrina and Puck's life was a popular TV show.

"You really wanna go outside right now?" He asked, eyeing the window. Now that she'd mentioned it, five in the morning was starting to feel like the middle of the day. Plus, they hadn't had the opportunity to sneak of out somewhere together in years. It would be like old times, even though there was no one to avoid.

"Yes, let's do it," Sabrina replied from her seat below the window. Her cheekbones looked like cut glass reflecting the moonlight, her lips like water. She glowed.

Puck realized he was staring at her and rolled his eyes. "You're crazy, Grimm. Fine."

Smirking, Sabrina got out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Shaking his head to expel the dizziness, Puck stood. Unwilling to turn the light on and blind himself, he groped around in the dark for a pair of pants and a jacket. It wasn't until he reached for his watch on the nightstand that he thought of _it_ and froze.

With a glance at the bathroom door, Puck slid the drawer open, snatched the box out of it, and zipped it into his coat pocket.

 _This doesn't mean this is happening today,_ he told himself, wiping his sweaty palms on his jacket and taking deeper breaths than usual. _Just in case._

They took off from the roof of Puck's building and flew high enough that no bystander would look up and have a heart attack. When they landed on the tip of a steep hill in a nature preserve near the city, the sky was cooling to an inky blue around them. A vast, tree-packed valley lay below, and they were up high enough that it was easier to believe the planet was round, as the sky stretched beneath their feet.

Sabrina leaned against a tree trunk. They'd been here twice before, the first time searching for water toadie eggs. He'd saved her from a kappa, he remembered, there had been a tight, iron fist that had closed around his lungs when he'd heard her scream followed by a deadly splash. That was the first time that he'd blurred the lines between them, if he was remembering correctly, the way he'd held her when he'd pulled her out of the water had been in no way innocent.

The second time, they'd gone for a hike. No detective work, no magic, no nothing, just a hike with Buttercup, Daphne's dog, who they'd been watching for the weekend. It had been a weird time in his life; before they had officially started dating, but after she'd called off her engagement to Bradley; Sabrina didn't know what she wanted, he was starting to understand what he did. All he could remember about the entire, three hour long hike they did that day, was how difficult it had been to keep his eyes off her.

"This is the dumbest thing we've ever done," Puck complained, shivering in the mid-October chill.

Sabrina's lips twitched. "Oh, please," she replied, her breath misting between them. "Remember the time at the Golden Egg when someone dared you to pretend to kidnap me?"

Puck froze mid-shiver and shuddered instead, remembering the impressive black eye he'd woken up with the next day. "Your defense fist worked that time."

She laughed, and he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her back to his chest and resting his chin on her head. They stared into the shadowy valley which was just beginning to lighten, quiet for a minute, and then he asked, "When do we stop growing again?"

It was getting hard to keep track of things. They'd started growing again and now looked twenty-seven, but she was really thirty, he was somewhere between four thousand and four thousand, one hundred. He'd always struggled to remember his actual age.

A red strip of fire appeared on the horizon. Puck felt her tense, and she looked up at him, confusion in her eyes. "Not _yet_."  
"Well, I don't want to live forever as a wrinkly old guy," Puck protested. "And, you know, twenty-seven isn't a bad age."

Sabrina cocked an eyebrow. "You won't get wrinkly and old for a long time, Gasbag. Twenty-seven is too young."

"Too young? We're practically your parent's age!" Above the red strip, orange light was erasing the blackness, turning it blue.

Rolling her eyes, Sabrina replied, "We are nowhere near as old as my parents. And even they aren't stopping yet."

Puck blanched. "You don't want to stop until we're _older_ than your parents?"

Puck could tell she was fighting a smile and losing. She broke eye contact and looked away to hide it. "No, of course not. But we can't stay like this forever."

Leaning back to better see the expression on her face, Puck asked, "You don't like this?"

Her eyes flicked to him and away as the orange light spread, melting into a lake at the far side of the valley and lighting it on fire. The trees around the lake had turned the color of blood, but the ones below their feet remained black. "Of course I do. But we aren't going anywhere right now."

"Who says we have to be older for things to go anywhere?"

Sabrina tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "That's the way adulthood works."

"And you would know that, how?"

"Uh," Sabrina replied intelligently, leaning into him instead of answering.

"I thought we were adults now," Puck protested. "Why do we have to be older adults?"

"Because," Sabrina said, spreading her hands as the iron red seeped across the valley and the strip of red turned to orange.

Puck was too busy panicking at the idea of looking old, like _thirty,_ to stop talking. "What if I don't want to get older?"

With a huff, Sabrina spun in his arms and replied, "I never asked you to grow up with me!"

Puck took his arms back and crossed them. "Neither did I!"

Sabrina threw her hands up in the air, her fingertips lighting with the fire of sunrise for a moment before she lowered them again. "What are you still doing, then?"

"I don't know!" Puck cried, chewing his lip. What he wanted to yell was, _I don't know how to you do this to me!_ But he didn't.

Sabrina paced a few steps away and then back, something that she did when she was mad and trying not to yell. He waited, bracing himself.

"I don't get why you want to stop now. Don't you see that if we don't grow anymore, we won't ever live in any way that we're living now?" Sabrina asked.

Puck blinked, trying to detangle her words. "What other way can we live?"

Even in the poor light of the sunrise Puck could tell her face was red.

"Never mind, forget it."

She looked away again, her hair, which was starting to look gold again, falling in front of her face like a curtain between them. But Puck, for once in his long life, was starting to piece together what she meant. He reached out and touched her arm, enough to make her pause.

"Tell me."

She hesitated and then turned back, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I don't want to walk home from your apartment at six in the morning for the rest of eternity. A house and dogs and maybe kids one day, Puck. Are you ready for that? At twenty-seven? I don't think you're ready for that."

It was a challenge and he knew she didn't expect him to have a good answer.

"Marry me," he blurted out as the sky above them lightened to deep blue.

Sabrina's expression went still. Puck froze in shock, unable to figure out what had made that come out of his mouth, as if _now_ was the time!

But to his surprise, he didn't want to crawl under a rock and die. He didn't even feel embarrassed, although his hands were clammy.

The sun finally appeared over the hills, turning the valley crimson and Sabrina orange.

"Hold on," he stammered, fumbling with the zipper on his coat, trying to calm down and failing. He refused to think too hard about what he was about to do, lest he lose his nerve. Where was the box? His fingers swept the pocket and for a second he felt panic before remembering it was on the other side.

"Puck, what—" Sabrina whispered, seemingly unable to speak any louder as she watched him fumble. His heart ricocheting around in his chest, he pulled it out.

"I wasn't sure how to do this," he said, holding the box protectively in both hands. "I've been thinking about all those things too. Sabrina, I don't think it matters how old we are, but I want to be with you forever."

Sabrina's mouth twisted, catching Puck off guard. Was she about to _cry_? Oh, god. She was as tough as nails; had seen her cry about twice. What was that supposed to mean?

Feeling a bit like he was barreling headlong off the cliff they were standing on, Puck opened the box and knelt before her, the sunlight somewhat blinding.

"Will you marry me?" He hoped to god that his voice didn't sound as shaky to her as it did to him.

For a terrifying moment, he watched her process what he was saying, and then she was nodding. "Yes," she whispered with a small sniff, and then he was on his feet again, cold relief coursing through his veins. Her body slammed into his and then he was clinging to her, fighting back the insane urge to laugh, one hand in her hair and the other wrapped around her waist. They were rocking back and forth, and he was kissing the tears on her cheeks and her lips as the new sunlight warmed his back.

"Did you plan this?" Sabrina asked when she pulled away, gesturing out to the valley, the tears gone as quickly as they had come.

A grin spread across his face.

"What, you think I left the window open and positioned the moon correctly and planted the idea in your head of coming here?" Puck snorted, although he was too giddy to properly channel the sarcasm that flowed within him. "It just happened. I've been trying to work up the nerve to do this for _ages_."

" _Ages?_ " she teased, smiling so widely that her eyes crinkled. "Afraid I was going to say no?"

"Terrified," he responded, trying to sound nonchalant and failing.

Shaking her head, Sabrina stepped into him so they were pressed together again. Her hands moved across his back and the tension that had curled into itself there melted into nothing.

"What a crazy thing to worry about," she said, her voice warm. "Don't tell your court, they'll think growing up has made you soft."

"Because of _you_ ," Puck pointed out. "Let me remind you that this growing business is all your fault."

Most of the bite was taken out of his statement because the feeling of her body against his was making him light headed.

And really, Puck couldn't care less whose fault it was. Standing here on the cliff, Puck didn't miss childhood, would have regretted not growing up sooner, except then he might have never met Sabrina.

Her fingers skimmed his cheekbones and he closed his eyes, sighing.

"You know, I think this is the spot where I realized I loved you," she said. "Although I didn't want to admit it then."

His eyes flew open and his heart starting to pound, although under her thumb a smirk curled across his face. "Why not? I _am_ magnificent."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "And smelly, and arrogant, and a blanket hog."

"And all yours, babe," Puck joked, making a gun out of his fingers and pretending to shoot her with it.

Usually this sort of declaration would have made her scowl and pretend to be angry with him, but today she smiled.

"All yours," she repeated against his lips, and kissed him in the full light of morning.

 **A/N: **is kind of long but I'd appreciate it if you read it.**

 **First, a note on the Epilogue. This has actually been written since November, and I intended to post it as a one-shot. My wonderful roommate, who has never read the Sisters Grimm or fanfiction in any form, but will still listen to me ramble about my writing, suggested I make it the Epilogue for this story. So here we are, eight months later. Like many of the people I've talked to, I disliked the Epilogues in the books because of how abrupt they were. I hope that my version of the Epilogue was deep enough that it made more sense/was less shocking than the first Epilogue in the books.**

 **About a year ago I started this story thinking it would be a ~5 chapter fic about some short adventure these four had. I didn't think anyone would read or comment on it, and I certainly didn't expect to hear the kind things that you all wrote. I'm so glad it turned into something much bigger than that. I'm a little sad that it's over, since this story has now been a part of my life for a long time.**

 **I was determined to do a few things in this story: first and foremost, finish it, which I've never been able to do before. Second, I also wanted to write it all from the girl's POVs, as a challenge. Most of the Epilogue is Puck because as one reviewer said (and I agree) he's a big part of this story and we should hear from him too. Third, follow the canon created by the Epilogues in the book. As you noticed, I didn't end up following through completely with that one, which I'm okay with. I thought it was important and made sense to pull Bradley into the story but in a way that was less shocking and sudden than in the books.**

 **Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading/reviewing/favoriting/following me and this story. I couldn't have finished without the support and encouragement of you all. And thank you in advance to anyone who guest reviews this chapter, since I won't be able to answer. I'll miss talking to you guys in these author's notes.**

 **If you have a moment, please leave a review about the epilogue or the story in general! I already have a few ideas for what I want to write next. I'm leaving the continent for a while and then starting school so I don't know when that will happen, but I'll be back sometime. Have a great rest of your summer (or winter!), good luck with the beginning of your school year, and thanks for everything.**

 **Guest (7/25/17): Thank you so much! Those stories drive me crazy too and I'm so glad that my characters don't come off that way!**

 **Lilly: Thank you not only for this review but also for all of your reviews on this story! They always make my day and are so nice. As for recommendations, I would say to check out Quill and Spindle's work if you haven't already. She has several finished fanfics that you'd probably like!**

 **KK: I'm sad too! Thank you so much for your review, it means a lot! I'll be back with new stories sometime soon!**

 **Guest (7/27/17): Yes, I'll be writing more puckabrina stuff soon!**

 **Guest (7/27/17): QuillandSpindle has written a bunch of finished puckabrina stories! Check her out!**


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